Archaeologists think the ancient burial ground, or necropolis, near the town of Amorosi, Italy is around 2,800 years old.Image credit: Italy Ministry of Culture/Terna
Posted on 05/07/2024 8:33:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An ancient necropolis discovered near Naples, Italy was used to bury the dead about 2,800 years ago, around the time the city of Rome was founded about 100 miles (161 kilometers) to the northwest.
The discovery gives researchers a rare insight into the Iron Age cultures that existed before the Roman domination of the region. The astonishing finds near the town of Amorosi, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Naples, include 88 burials in "pit tombs" of both men and women.
The men were typically buried with weapons, whereas the women were often buried with bronze ornaments, including bracelets, pendants, brooches — called "fibulae," and pieces of amber and worked bone, according to a translated statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture.
The archaeologists who excavated the site have also unearthed large numbers of pottery vases of different shapes, which were usually placed in the tombs at the feet of the deceased. They think the burial ground predates the Samnites, the people who lived in the region a few hundred years later and were frequent enemies of the early Romans...
The ancient necropolis near Amorosi seems to have been established in the Samnite region, but hundreds of years before the Samnites arrived there, possibly from central Italy.
Archaeologists think the people who founded the necropolis belonged to what's been called the "Pit Tomb" culture that existed throughout much of central and southern Italy during the Iron Age.
The burial ground near Amorosi was discovered by archaeologists investigating the area before a new power plant is built there.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Archaeologists think the ancient burial ground, or necropolis, near the town of Amorosi, Italy is around 2,800 years old.Image credit: Italy Ministry of Culture/Terna
I was expecting to see iron age artifacts from this excavated site. I only saw bronze works.
Do you think they might find the graves of Romulus and Remus?
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