The plateau occupied by the Etrusco-Romano town of Mursana extends over an area of circa 5 hectares. Intensive excavations were carried out on the town during the second half of the 19th century.

In 1982, the chance find of a mosaic with etruscan script lead to the start of an extensive excavation programme, based around four main research objectives.

The study of the urban centre has allowed the complete reconstruction of the site’s orthogonal plan, dating back to the 4th century B.C., which was divided into twelve housing blocks. Three sectors were the object of open-area excavation: a Hellenistic bath-building, in use until the reign of Tiberius, a domus occupied between the 1st century B.C. and the 5th century A.D., and part of the eastern side of the central square, with a temple perhaps dedicated to Hercules and a complex of shops similar to a market.

Investigation of the town walls has revealed a complex and imposing defensive system. The entire site is surrounded by a wall. To the east, the weakest side of the plateau, this had been reinforced, internally, with a bank of earth. Externally, the main wall was protected by a second wall with a wide, deep ditch in front of it.

To the east of the site, some areas of the Hellenistic necropolis (aristocratic underground tombs and a cassone tombs), and a large group of fossa tombs of Imperial date were investigated. The agrarian landscape has been examined using excavation, and topographical and geophysical survey. This research has enabled the reconstruction of a part of the road system and some aspects of land use around the site (vine trenches), as well as the system of defence along the eastern boundary with the territory of Tarquinia, which was composed of a chain of small forts. (Vincent Jolivet)