An ancient necropolis discovered in the province of Benevento was used to bury the dead around 2,800 years ago.
The discovery offers researchers a rare glimpse into the Iron Age cultures that existed before Roman domination of the region. The surprising finds near the town of Amorosi, in the province of Benevento, include 88 burials in “pit tombs” of men and women. Men were generally buried with weapons, while women were often buried with bronze ornaments, including bracelets, pendants, brooches called “fibulae” and pieces of amber and worked bone, according to a statement translated by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The archaeologists who excavated the site also brought to light a large number of ceramic vases of different shapes, which were usually placed in the tombs at the feet of the deceased. The burial site is believed to predate the Samnites, the people who lived in the region a few hundred years later and who were often enemies of the early Romans. According to legend, the mythical hero Romulus founded the city of Rome in 753 BC amid a dispute with his twin brother Remus; but archaeologists think that Rome developed from the union of several hill villages around the 10th century BC, during the Iron Age.
The early Roman state fought many wars against its neighbors, including the Etruscan city-states and other Latin-speaking peoples; and in the 4th century BC the Romans fought a series of wars against the Samnites, who lived mainly southeast of Rome in the mountainous region of the Apennines. Ultimately, however, Rome won and the Samnites were assimilated into Roman society after the Third Samnite War, 298 to 290 BC, after which Rome conquered all of Italy and founded colonies further afield. The ancient necropolis near Amorosi appears to have been founded in Samnite territory, but hundreds of years earlier the Samnites arrived there, perhaps from central Italy. Archaeologists believe the people who founded the necropolis belonged to what has been called the “pit tomb” culture, which existed across 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 was built there. The plant is intended to provide electricity for the high-speed upgrade of the railway between Naples and the city of Bari on Italy’s Adriatic coast. In addition to the pit tombs, the necropolis features two large mounds – about 15 meters in diameter – which archaeologists believe cover the graves of elite members of the ancient society. A statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture says that men’s graves in the necropolis often included weapons, while women’s graves often included ornaments, such as these bronze bracelets. The mounds are now the only visible features of the necropolis and have been known for millennia, but the latest excavations have only now revealed the numerous tombs around them, according to news reports. The graves, artefacts and human remains they contain will now be studied in a laboratory set up on the site, the statement said.
