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Introduction

In the 1991 excavation season, during a survey to establish a baseline, stone formations were discovered in the Civitate B property zone (TT I, p. 159). Excavations of these features in the 1992, 1993, and 1996 seasons revealed possible small cist tombs; semi-circular enclosures built up against bedrock (EN IV). These, however, were largely devoid of materials except for a carinated bowl with a ring base (PC19930031) and a few other fragments of pottery, which indicate both a possible 6^th century date and that they were likely robbed in antiquity. The small size and location distant from the elite burial ground on Poggio Aguzzo indicate that these features may have been non-elite burials, possibly associated with the non-elite settlement discovered in the 2012 and 2013 excavation seasons (“Excavations at Poggio Civitate (Murlo) During the 2012-2013 Seasons: Domestic Architecture and Selected

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Finds From the Civitate A Property Zone”, Tuck, Kreindler, and Huntsman 2013). Previous years of excavation have revealed no intact burials in the Civitate B area, however, most trenches excavated were small test trenches no larger than 2x3 meters. Civitate B 63 will be a 5x5 meter trench to alleviate the possibility of missing features indicative of intact burials. Such a large surface area would also increase the likelihood of finding further non-elite settlement akin to that found in Civitate A in 2012 and 2013, a possibility due to the close proximity of the CA42 well discovered in 1999, suggesting 6^th ct. occupation of the area. The discovery of either intact cist tombs or non-elite habitation in the Civitate B area would increase our understanding of social organization and practices of the non-elite inhabitants of Poggio Civitate. It is known that

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the elite inhabitants of Poggio Civitate in the 7^th century buried their dead on the neighboring hilltop of Poggio Aguzzo. The potential necropolis area of Civiate B lies along the path and sightline from the Piano del Tesoro to Poggio Aguzzo, connecting the two burial areas which were, however, drastically different in their behavioral and material features. Further evidence of non-elite burials in Civitate B would help to clarify the differences between the practices of the neighboring but distinct elite and non-elite populations.

CB 63 will be opened and explored for the following reasons:

1. To securely date the material discovered within the excavation area and associate it with either a new or pre-existing period of occupation at Poggio Civitate

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1. To better understand the rectilinear stone formations discovered in 1991 and those materials recovered from the surrounding area of CB63
2. To understand the correlation between non-elite and elite habitations that occupied Poggio Civitate
3. To further expand upon our knowledge of non-elite and elite funerary practices through the differentiation between the materials discovered previously in other CB trenches and Poggio Aguzzo