MURLO (POGGIO CIVITATE)

   An important, albeit controversial, site first known from tombe a fossa and cremation within dolii, dating to the recent Orientalizing period. Recent excavations have discovered two phases of monumental building within an artificial bank. The first phase of building was occupied from approximately 650 BC until nearly 600 BC (when burned by fire) and included rich, recent The courtyard structure at Murlo.

   Orientalizing material (ivory, pottery, etc.). The second phase of building, a monumental courtyard, was built around 600 BC and was destroyed in about 530 BC. The finds from the second phase included notable terracotta figurative sculpture, friezes, and other rich decorative material. Whatever the correct interpretation of the site, three points are important: first, its location on the boundary of five city-states (Chiusi, Volterra, Vetulonia, Roselle, Arezzo); second, its rich iconography; and third, the instability of the settlement, measured both in the length of occupation and its twofold destruction. The site has been variously interpreted as a sanctuary, a chiefly residence, or as part of a larger settlement whose full extent has only been partially explored (given the techniques so far employed), and that governed a local territory that has only recently been surveyed.