In the overall picture of the area between Pisa and Volterra the territory of Parlascio, in the municipality of Cascina Terme, is of interest in two periods in particular. The first runs from the early Middle ages to the point when the town enters into the Florentine dominion at the beginning of the 15th century, the second is the pre-Roman period when the territory seemed to function as a bridge between the area under the control of the settlement on the Arno delta and the territory of Volterra.

Surface finds in the 1980s and more recent years revealed that the area occupied by the medieval castle (only the ruins of the fortified walls now remain) must have been the site of an extensive settlement. On the basis of the finds this must have been continuously occupied from the early archaic until the central Hellenistic period.

The excavations undertaken between 2003 and 2006 uncovered the remains of a large settlement which developed in the area of the small plateau below the Rocca di Parlascio from the end of the 7th century B.C. to the Hellenistic period. Remains of this settlement, though damaged by the construction of the medieval castle and modern interventions, were also found on the Rocca. Here, in 2005, the remains of a building with foundations of stone blocks were found. The typology of material recovered suggests that it was a cult building dating to the 6th century.

Material found in secondary deposit in later layers provided an insight into how the area was the subject of continuous occupation from the early Bronze Age onwards.