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The excavation of CA 72 during the 2013 season revealed three new stone features which may represent many as three phases of construction, as well as a hard packed surface, but illuminated neither the nature of activity nor the precise dating of this part of Civitate A.

In the western section of the trench a rock feature consisting of five stones approximately thirty centimeters in length ran from adjacent CA 73 south into CA 72's northern meter before turning westward at a roughly perpendicular angle. These stones preserved signs of working from a rasp or chisel and therefore appear to have been intentionally shaped and deposited. Many of the diagnostic and finely wrought artifacts, including 20130211

20130211 20130211 , were excavated just south of the feature, and often were nearly pressed against its stones.

Though part of the interior of the perpendicular feature was located within CA 72's boundaries, the excavation of the interior was carried out by CA 73 in order to keep all observations

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consistent and materials collected together. A longer discussion of those findings may be found in ARR V , but ultimately its function could not be determined without further excavation into deeper strata which was not feasible this season.

In the middle section of the trench a robust linear feature of three parallel rock lines which ran roughly on a north to south axis and which extended from CA 76 north through CA 72 and into CA 73, but was not present in CA 77 farther to south or in CA 78 farther north, was uncovered. The feature was composed of three lines of stones twenty to fifty centimeters in length, which formed a feature approximately seventy centimeters in width. A large, roughly triangular stone, possibly a fragment of bedrock with unclear function was located in the center of the feature. Though a corner of it was within the boundaries of CA 72, the majority of this stone rested within CA 73. Included within the feature were large, well-preserved fragments of terra cotta roofing

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elements and large coarseware vessels.

This robust feature appears tentatively to be a load bearing wall and may correspond to the roughly parallel robust linear feature found in CA 72 during the 2012 season. It is unclear whether those two features are the western and eastern boundary of one potential building or whether they are potentially from two separate structures. Further excavation is needed to clarify these hypotheses, to define the area of such a possible building or buildings, and to determine what function it or they may have held on Poggio Civitate.

In the eastern section of the trench a twenty centimeter wide curvilinear feature extended south from CA 73 before curving slightly from northeast to southwest in CA 72. It consisted of terra cotta fragments--including 20130185

20130185 , 20130194 20130194 , and 20130232 20130232 --and stones ten to twenty centimeters in length and stacked in four courses. It was not parallel to the robust linear feature in the middle section of CA 72, described above. The construction and thickness of this feature is much more akin to the thin

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rock features discovered in CA 70 and CA 71 during the 2012 season, though those features were all parallel and rectilinear.

A one by one meter sounding was executed in the northeastern corner of CA 72 in order to section through the feature, and excavated in tandem with a one by one meter sounding in CA 73's southeastern corner. When excavation was halted for the season a fifth course of rocks was visible in the center of the sounding. Closing elevations revealed that the level of those rocks was the same as the level in the western meter of the trench where a hard packed, mottled, carbon included soil was uncovered.

This soil, also present in CA 73, CA 76, and CA 79, has tentatively been identified as a hard packed floor surface which possibly has east and west limits between the two robust linear features in CA 72. The majority of each artifact type recovered from CA 72 during this season was collected from within Locus 4 which directly overlaid the hard packed surface, which may lend further credence to its identification as an ancient functional surface space.

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Though it is at the same elevation, it is unclear whether the thin curvilinear feature had any relation to the hard packed soil or whether it may pre- or postdate that feature. Only further sectioning through the feature can elucidate these questions regarding phasing.

The high concentration of slag and vitrified terra cotta in CA 72 and the surrounding trenches may indicate that the area was used for metal working on a small scale. Additionally, in CA 72 two crucible fragments, 20130084 and 20130155

20130155 , were recovered, though no evidence of a metal roasting oven was found, so the materials may have eroded into CA 72 from a nearby location. Furthermore, the bronze recovered in the area, such as 20130010 , enjoyed a high level of preservation. Perhaps this area played some sort of role in metal production on the site, possibly in relation to the roasting pits found in CA 33, though again further excavation is required to confirm whether metal working was occurring near CA 72.

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Additionally, many fragments of antler, horn, and worked bone were recovered from CA 72 during the 2013 season. To that end there may have similarly been some sort of small scale animal processing occurring in the vicinity of CA 72. The combination of two such industries is somewhat reminiscent of the joint nature of production occurring on a much larger scale in OC 2/Workshop on Piano del Tesoro, though more investigation is necessary to definitively declare whether bone was in fact being processed on or near the site of CA 72.

The dating of this area remains unclear. There are finds which span three time periods, including two bucchero handles with typically Iron Age stamps such as the bulls eye pattern, 20130027

, and the hatched triangle design, 20130219 20130219 ; several Orientalizing ceramic fragments including 20130085 , 20130195 20130195 , and 20130211 20130211 20130211 ; and from CA 70 in 2012 a possible Archaic gorgon hair fragment, 20120112 , and from CA 80 an Archaic frieze plaque cavetto fragment, 20130017 . These various materials may indicate not only a long period of habitation in the Civitate A area,

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but additionally overlapping use of technologies and typologies from different periods by the inhabitants. Ultimately, more excavation is needed to understand the form and function of the rock features uncovered in both 2012 and 2013, to clarify their phase or phases of activity or occupation, and to elucidate what types of production, if any, were occurring in Civitate A.

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