Talk: “Recent work at Poggio Civitate in Etruria” by Katharine Kreindler

• Talk

• Event Date: Sunday, September 10, 2017
• Time: 3:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

Part of the Archaeological Institute of America Lecture Series

The site of Poggio Civitate is an Etruscan settlement dating to the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries BCE. The site sits at the edge of the clay-rich deposits of the Crete Senese and the iron-rich hills of the Colline Metallifere. Control of these resources helped the occupants of Poggio Civitate to prosper and they erected some of the largest monumental houses, temples, and workshops in the central Mediterranean. However, Poggio Civitate’s prosperity was short-lived, and the site was dismantled and abandoned by the end of the 6th century. Most evidence for ancient Etruria, particularly Etruria of the eighth through sixth centuries BCE, comes from tombs. Poggio Civitate, which preserves the remains of a settlement, rather than a necropolis, affords archaeologists the opportunity to better understand how Etruscans lived. As such, the site has been continuously excavated since 1966. For approximately the first 40 years of excavations at Poggio Civitate, work focused on uncovering the art and architecture of the site’s elite, monumental center, called the Piano del Tesoro. Recently, we have shifted our focus to understanding how the non-elite inhabitants of Poggio Civitate lived. Specifically, our research questions deal with production, social organizations, and social stratification. In this talk, Kreindler will present recent findings from the site and explore how architecture, monumentality, production, and social status came together at Poggio Civitate.

This talk is organized by the Central Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.