Muluvanice Inscriptions at Poggio Civitate (Murlo)

Excavations at the Etruscan site of Poggio Civitate (Murlo) have uncovered a seventh-century B.C.E. building complex. Two of the buildings in the complex are securely identified: one is an aristocratic residence (OC1/Residence) and the other a multifunctional workshop (OC2/Workshop). The function of a third building in the complex, which has a tripartite floor plan (OC3/Tripartite Building), is uncertain. Excavators note that the internal structure of the building makes it tempting to interpret it as a religious structure. They are appropriately cautious in their assessment of the material remains recovered on the floor of the building, but they do not consider the muluvanice inscriptions on pieces of bucchero pottery found there. I argue that this evidence contributes to the debate about the function of the OC3/Tripartite Building, suggesting that it served as the public center of the site in its broadest conception.