The hill of Poggio Civitate is located immediately adjacent to the small mediaeval town of Murlo, c.25 km south of Siena (fig. 1). Situated at the juncture of Tuscany's mineralrich Colline metallifere and the agricultural abundance of the Crete senese, Poggio Civitate's inhabitants drew upon the area's vast resources to emerge as a regional center of power in the 8th through 6th c. B.C.

Excavation in 2015 at the Etruscan site revealed a previously undocumented phase of monumental domestic architecture. The building in question lies immediately west of the Piano del Tesoro plateau, in the modern property zone known as Civitate A. Its architectural form, as well as the materials recovered both upon and beneath its floor, suggest that it dates earlier than the architectural complex known on the adjacent plateau.