The necropolis of Poggio Civitate (Murlo)

In the autumn of 1972, American archaeologists working at Poggio Civitate (Murlo) began the first controlled exploration of the site's necropolis. The burial ground, called Poggio Aguzzo, is situated on a small spur hill projecting north of the main ridge of Poggio Civitate. The nine graves excavated at that time form the basis of this study but represent only a portion of the cemetery. Logistical difficulties prevented further exploration and the area has never been reexamined since. The full extent of the necropolis remains unknown. Unlike many corpuses of Etruscan tombs, the burials from Poggio Aguzzo are not the only aspect of the site that has been explored. The cemetery is situated about 350 meters to the west of the plateau of Piano del Tesoro, the area of most extensive excavation on Poggio Civitate. Since the inception of excavations on the plateau in 1966, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two phases of building. The first structure discovered dates to roughly 600 B.C. to 550/535 B.C. and is frequently referred to as the "Upper Building" . This monumental, 60x90 meter building was ornately decorated with terracotta akroterial sculpture, molded frieze plaques and antefixes, and decorative lateral and raking simas.