Parco Archeologico di Poggio la Croce

Poggio la Croce Archaeological Park occupies a ridge above 600 metres in the Chianti hills. Its archaeological layers include Copper Age settlement, Final Bronze Age pastoral activity, an Etruscan fortified hilltop settlement and traces of later rural life.

Why it matters

Research at the site began in 1989 under the scientific direction of Cooperativa ArcheoProgetti. Finds and remains document changing patterns of settlement and land use across the ridge, from prehistory through the Etruscan period and into the era of sharecropping.

What to notice

The earlier archaeological evidence includes Copper Age remains and traces associated with Final Bronze Age transhumance. The Etruscan hilltop settlement included grape pips of Vitis vinifera and a structure interpreted as a wine press, evidence of winemaking in the area by the fourth century BC. Later traces include dry-stone terraces and platforms of carbonaie, charcoal kilns associated with rural life. A sandstone stele found at Poggio la Croce bears the Etruscan name Mamarkes; it is now held in the Giuliano Ghelli collection at San Casciano in Val di Pesa.

Context and history

The park’s archaeological sequence reflects successive uses of this ridge: prehistoric settlement, pastoral activity, an Etruscan fortified site and later agricultural work. The surviving structures connect the excavated settlement with later work on the surrounding land.