Poggio Civitate and the Urban Landscape of Italy's Earliest Cities

The site of Poggio Civitate is one of our best examples of an Etruscan community on the cusp of urbanism. Not only does the site preserve evidence of elite domestic, industrial and religious architecture, but the remarkable preservation of much of these contexts allows for a degree of insight into this community that most other sites simply cannot provide. Excavations over the past two years have revealed a series of areas of activity at the site, including wells, burials, circuit walls, paved roads and new buildings of the site's 7th century phase of development. As a result, we can now comprehensively discuss Poggio Civitate as a type site for the urban process in this region. When compared to evidence from sites throughout the region, Poggio Civitate no longer appears anomalous, but rather seems to be the best window currently available through which we can understand the development of cities during Italy's first great indigenous urban experiment.

Public Lecture co-sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Cotsen Institute. Click for more information on speaker Anthony Tuck.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Lot 4. Enter UCLA from Sunset Blvd. at Westwood. Drive ahead to the Parking Information Booth in Lot 4. Convenient Fowler parking is at the northeast or southeast ends of Lot 4, where automated pay stations accept $1 and $5 bills and credit cards. The parking fee is a maximum of $9. The Fowler Museum is visible to your left when you ascend from the elevator or stairs (follow pedestrian walkways, indicated by arrows).