Architectural innovation and metallurgy in early Etruria: evidence from Poggio Civitate
The site of Poggio Civitate preserves some of the earliest known examples of monumental domestic and industrial architecture in peninsular Italy; in the second half of the seventh century BCE, inhabitants of Poggio Civitate constructed a monumental elite residence, an early temple, and a large industrial workshop, all of which were covered with terracotta tiled roofs. These buildings were thought to be some of the earliest examples of structures with terracotta tiled roofs in the region. Classical archaeologists long have thought that terracotta roofing technology was developed in Corinth at the start of the seventh century BCE and later was exported to Etruria. However, the recent discovery of a new monumental residence at Poggio Civitate that was equipped with a tiled roof and dates to the start of the seventh century BCE challenges this narrative. Moreover, evidence from this same building indicates that Etruscans may have developed terracotta roofing technology independently of Greeks, through the seemingly unrelated activity of processing and refining metallic ores.