The site of Poggio Colla preserved undisturbed habitation layers of Etruscans; it appears to have been inhabited by Etruscans at least as early as 7th century and was abandoned or destroyed in the late 3rd century BCE. The site suffered a violent destruction and was rebuilt during the Hellenistic period.
Excavation
The first excavations of Poggio Colla were directed by Francesco Nicosia from 1968 to 1972. From 1995 to 2012, the site was excavated annually by the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project under the direction of Gregory Warden and Michael Thomas; MVAP is sponsored by Southern Methodist University and the University of Pennsylvania. Excavations have revealed fortification walls, a necropolis area, and the remains of an archaic monumental building.
Research
The faunal remains recovered from Poggio Colla primarily contains the remains of cattle, sheep/goat and pig, as well as the remains of dog and wild species. The relative importance of pigs increases over time; this trend is linked to intensification of meat production and rising urban populations. Similar faunal assemblages have been found in other Etruscan settlements. A black-glaze olpe filled with one hundred Roman silver victoriati was discovered in 2001 in the west end of the Poggio Colla acropolis. The significance of the finding is that it is found in the context of a sanctuary and it was buried after the sanctuary was destroyed in the late 3rd century BCE. The use of a rounded molding on the base of monumental tombs, temples and altars is the characteristic of Etruscan architecture; and it was consistent between 6th to 2nd century B.C. in different Etruscan cities. A large number of such moldings was discovered in Poggio Colla; the large single or double round fits into the known pattern of Etruscan architecture. A large number of roof tiles of the monumental structure on the Poggio Colla acropolis and workshop/farmhouse of Podere Funghi has been discovered during ongoing excavation. A geochemical study has been done in an attempt to characterize the composition of ceramics, tiles and the local sediments discovered at the site of Poggio Colla. Using methods like X-ray, petrography, thermogravimetric analysis, macroscopic observations, it is found that typical pottery sherds and tile fragments constituent of abundant quartz, feldspar, minor amount of mica, lithic, and grog. The compositions of tiles and pottery of Poggio Colla and Podere Funghi are similar, but the rock and sediment specimens were different; which supports the hypothesis that diverse ceramic industry co-existed in close proximity to Poggio Colla acropolis. Paleoethnobotanical studies have been done at Poggio Colla to identify the plants utilized by the Etruscans; this could provide potential information about Etruscan diet and common plants used in weaving. The soil samples from features and stratum, are floated to obtain botanical remains, which includes modern roots, charcoal, whole seeds, and seed fragments. Thus far, the identified seeds include cereal, mainly barley, wheat, broad beans, chickpeas, and grape pips. This is an ongoing research of MVAP.
Findings
This excavation resulted in two highly significant archaeological discoveries: a stone stele "evidence of a permanent religious cult with monumental dedications, at least as early as the Late Archaic Period, from about 525 to 480 B.C. Its re-use in the foundations of a slightly later sanctuary structure points to deep changes in the town and its social structure.". The stele itself is 226.8 kg, and roughly 1.2 m in height, with approximately 120 Etruscan characters along the sides, making the stele the source of one of the longest inscriptions in the Etruscan language, which has eluded comprehension from scholars since its initial discovery. The inscription attests to Uni being the primary recipient of worship and sacrifice at the Poggio Colla sacred site. The head archaeologist, Gregory Warden, stated that “the slab was discovered embedded in the foundations of a monumental temple where it had been buried for more than 2,500 years. At one time it would have been displayed as an imposing and monumental symbol of authority.” The second significant discovery was the birth-stamp; a small image of a womangiving birth that was found on a shard of bucchero pottery. The image shows the head and shoulders of a baby emerging from the mother, who is represented with her face in profile, with one arm raised, thought to be holding on to possibly a tree for support. The artifact’s closest Etruscan iconographic parallels—the scenes found on the Archaic relief slabs from Tarquinia—illustrate a crouching female but without the baby. Additional Etruscan scenes combine the crouching pose with a range of animals, suggesting an association with the “Mistress of the Animals.” A survey of the few related images from around the Mediterranean not only establishes the rarity of childbirth images in the classical world but also the uniquely Etruscan character of the shard’s imagery. When its context—a redeposited occupation stratum of a settlement dated to the end of the Orientalizing period—is assessed in conjunction with its iconography, it becomes possible to view the stamp’s imagery as alluding to concepts of fertility and reproduction tied to the power of nature and regeneration, all of which would have been appropriate in an Etruscan banqueting context attended by elite men and women.
