2008 TRENCH PC 37 Field Supervisor: Ivo van der Graaff, The University of Texas   Field Supervisor Ivo van der Graaff with Director Michael Thomas In the 1960's Italian excavations exposed two Etruscan walls in the grid square now occupied by PC 37. Besides a small sketch plan, however, they provided no proper documentation on the area. Since then the natural elements systematically attacked the exposed walls causing much structural damage. In the last two weeks of the season we started up a small project to document and assess the structural integrity of the architecture. We also hoped to gain a better understanding of the stratigraphy related to the structures and bring their construction sequence and use into our knowledge of the site. Above and below: Jessica Franceschini, Kyle Jazwa, and Ivo van der Graaff open PC 37, a trench partially excavated by an Italian team in the 1960's We started with some heavy brush clearing and small clean up passes that uncovered two walls. The first ran north-south on the western fringe of the trench. In antiquity it probably performed a dual function as a terracing and defensive structure for our site. The second wall ran east-west through the trench and probably functioned as a large foundation structure for a building. We continued our work by pushing back a section of the unit some 50 cm to gain a fresh look at the stratigraphy associated the structures. The uncovered evidence points to the presence of at least one distinct floor level in the unit. In it we found an ancient post hole dug into the stratum to support a building. The fortuitous find of a coin nearby helps us narrow down the occupation of this structure to the second half of the 3rd century BC. This small project greatly expanded our knowledge of the site, and our efforts helped conserve the walls. Next year I hope to continue our excavations PC 37 to uncover more of the history associated to these structures.   Kyle Jazwa in Trench PC 37   JoAnna Walton and Matthew Elverson define the scarp in PC 37   Andrea Summers and Megan Burns in PC 37   View from the south of Trench PC 37 at the end of the 2008 field season