This settlement area is located on the north-eastern slopes of the summit of the Poggio del Telegrafo (south of the gulf of Baratti), in correspondance with the Etruscan acropolis of Populonia. The area excavated, on the same axis as the building known as “delle Logge” which has recently been investigated by Siena University, seems to correspond to the uppermost of the monumental terraces constructed during the Republican period on the northern flank of the hill. The site revealed a continuous stratigraphic sequence which began at least as early as the Orientalizing period (end of the 8th – beginning of the 7th centuries B.C.). In fact, the earlist evidence on the site is represented by traces of dwellings from this period, heavily disturbed by the building of monumental structures in the Republican period. What remains are the occupation levels coverd by the collapse of wattle and daub walls built on a base of unbaked brick. Occupation of the area seems to continue at least during the 7th century B.C., as attested by the residual material which came to light in the Hellenistic levels.
During the 3rd century B.C., the area came back into use with the construction of a monumental building circa 16m long, the full extension of which is still to be investigated. This is abutted, during the first half of the 2nd century B.C., by a structure comprising seven small rooms, of which only the foundations survive. Following the late Republican period the area seems to be used for agriculture and this use continues through to the modern period. The area is delimited by a series of terraces for dry-stone walls, which are on a different alignment from the structures of the preceding phases. (Valeria Acconcia, Matteo Milletti)