The Mugello Valley Archaeological Project, directed by Prof. Gregory Warden (SMU) and Prof. Michael Thomas (U. of Texas), continued to focus on the fortified acropolis-sanctuary of the Etruscan site of Poggio Colla, twenty-two miles northeast of Florence. Our goal was to elucidate the monumental complexes of the 6th through the 2nd centuries BCE.

On the southern flank of the fortified arx we continued to uncover terracing walls, buttresses, and yet another (our sixth) sandstone Tuscan column base. As in 2008, excavation on the western part acropolis continued to define the multiple phases of construction of the area west of the Phase II-IV courtyards, providing further evidence for at least four phases of monumental architecture. The western part of the acropolis also continues to provide evidence for ritual activity: the most significant find was a deposit at the northwest corner of the Phase II complex that included bronze and animal bones. The finds await conservation, but preliminary indications are that it was a foundation deposit. This season also produced dramatic evidence for the economic function of Etruscan sanctuaries: a storage area with well preserved pithoi, work areas, and loom weights.

An English team of archaeologists, directed by Prof. Phil Perkins (Open University, UK) and working under the umbrella of the MVAP permit, continued to excavate the North-West Slope. They found an Orientalizing (7th c. BCE) quarry with unfinished, partially quarried blocks that were probably intended for the earliest phase of monumental construction on the arx. Nearby were large fire pits that may have served as kilns, again dating to the 7th c. BCE. Ceramic evidence from this area suggests that there was activity here earlier than previously thought, as early as the 8th century BCE (Villanovan Period).