A Sacred Area from the Copper Age and 5000-years-old A Stele Decorated Discovered in Italy

The remains of a sacred area that dates back at least four thousand years have been discovered during excavations for the new gymnasium at the primary school in Berbenno di Valtellina in the northern Lombardy region of Italy.

The excavations for constructing the gymnasium of the primary school, carried out with PNNR funds, brought to light several archaeological structures, including a lithic cist tomb (i.e. a chest made of stone slabs, arranged in a cut-out pattern). The burial, which contained the remains of at least two individuals, was surrounded by a circle of stones and was likely covered by a mound.

Although the exact dating of this tomb is unknown, it may be from the end of the Copper Age or the start of the Bronze Age, some four thousand years ago.

In northern Italy, the Bronze Age spanned approximately 2300/1150 cal BC, during which prehistoric communities underwent a gradual yet significant transformation. Funerary evidence and sacred or ritual sites, where adornment objects played a different but significant role, are the main sources of information about this period.

This is an exceptional find, the first of its kind in Valtellina, and made all the more remarkable by the fact that one of the walls of the tomb was constructed using an ornate stele from 5,000 years ago, similar to those found in the Teglio area and currently on display in Palazzo Besta.

This stele greatly extends the distribution area of these artifacts, which until now had never been found west of Chiuro.  The stele, which by the nature of the engraved objects is male, and may have originally been part of an alignment, located in a sort of prehistoric sanctuary.

“It can certainly be said that what is emerging from the excavations represents one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made in Valtellina”, says Stefano Rossi, Inspectorate archaeologist official.

“Several artifacts recovered since the nineteenth century had already indicated that human presence in Berbenno dated back at least to the Bronze Age, but these new findings move the frequentation of the area back at least a thousand years. In particular, the stele statue constitutes the most western testimony of this important cultural phenomenon, dating back to over five thousand years ago.”

The excavation operations were carried out with the archaeological assistance of the specialized archaeological company Sap, which allowed these important structures to be recognized.

Since archeological research is still being done, more details may soon be added to the already intriguing picture that has so far come to light. As things stand, it appears feasible to assume that the remains could be removed for enhancement somewhere once the excavations are finished, enabling the project to move forward.

3,000-Year-Old Iron Age Statuette Discovered in Italian Lake, With Fingerprints of Maker

During work in Lake Bolsena, a volcanic lake in central Italy, at the submerged archaeological site of Gran Carro, a  3,000-year-old terracotta female figure has been discovered. Remarkably, after 3000 years of submersion, the figure still bears the fingerprints of its maker.

This discovery was made as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which includes the creation of an underwater path for visitors to explore the site in a unique way.

The unfinished clay figure of a woman, dating from between the 10th and 9th centuries BC, looks more like a first draft than a ready-made piece of art. However, the fact that the clay worker did not fully finish the figure does not prevent the discovery from being considered exceptional and unique, and from shedding light on little-known aspects of daily life in the early Iron Age in southern Etruria.

The statuette subtle feminine features, was made of poorly fired clay. A surprising detail is that it still bears the fingerprints of its creator, as well as the impression of a fabric pattern under the chest, implying that the figure was “dressed” in some sort of garment. Measuring six inches tall, the figurine was likely used in prayer rituals.

Researchers believe that the sculpture was likely a votive figure used in domestic rituals. This idea has been supported by researchers’ discovery of other examples of similar figurines from subsequent periods, pointing to a long-held tradition of votive figurine creation in the area.

“This important archaeological context that is giving us aspects of daily life from the first Iron Age (late 10th-century B.C.E – early 9th-century B.C.E), [of which] still little is known in southern Etruria,” researchers said.

The underwater restorers of CSR Restauro Beni Culturali made the discovery, and then the staff of the Underwater Archaeology Service handled the recovery and initial conservation treatment. These experts’ painstaking work has been essential in keeping the piece in its original condition and enabling a thorough analysis of it.

The area’s rich history, which is still little known, has been enhanced by the discovery of thousands of Iron Age artifacts since the 1960s. The archaeological site of Gran Carro di Bolsena is famous for the Aiola complex, a partially explored monumental structure that archaeologists still don’t understand. This stony heap, devoid of any structural connectors, has an elliptical base and a truncated conical shape. Beneath its stony exterior is a heap of earth.

There have been recent suggestions that Aiola is not the only structure of its kind in the lake, as it is intimately associated with the presence of thermal springs that have temperatures between thirty and forty degrees Celsius.

The region’s rich Iron Age past was unknown to researchers until 1991 when they uncovered a group of buried stones that they now think are the remains of a sizable building that was erected close to a hot spring. 2020: When archaeologists examined the soil beneath these stones, they discovered early Iron Age ceramics and other artifacts.

During this period, the city of Aiola was home to a village that left behind thousands of artifacts, such as pottery, jewelry, and this goddess figurine. Although these artifacts have been discovered by researchers since the 1960s, it has only been recently that Aiola’s rich Iron Age past has been thoroughly investigated and studied.

The discovery of coins from the fourth-century CE Roman emperor Constantine the Great attests to the area’s continued habitation until the final days of the Roman Empire. The village was then submerged by seismic activity from the Vulsini volcano.

A New Picene Prince Tomb Dating to the 7th Century BC with Two Chariots Discovered in Corinaldo, Italy

Following the discovery of the so-called ‘Prince of Corinaldo’ in 2018, archaeologists from the University of Bologna have discovered a new princely tomb dating to the 7th century BC at the Corinaldo Necropolis in the Italian province of Ancona.

The Piceni people lived in Italy during the early Iron Age. They were primarily concentrated in Novilara in the north and Belmonte in the south. There is proof that they were wealthy people and that they traded with the Greeks as early as the 7th century BC.

According to researchers, their population was warlike and they possessed very little artistic ability. In the end, in 268 BC, Rome annexed their territory.

A recent discovery led by Dr. Cecilia Carlorosi and Ilaria Venanzoni consists of a princely tomb of notable magnitude.

The excavation revealed a square pit approximately 3.80 meters by 2.20 meters, located within a large circular ditch originally with a diameter of 30 meters.

Objects recovered from a high-status grave of the Piceni people discovered in Corinaldo, in the central Italian region of Le Marche, this tomb contained more than 150 artifacts, among which a two-wheeled chariot and a prestigious set of bronze objects stand out.

Among these objects are a helmet, a cauldron, and numerous finely decorated containers, indicative of the aristocratic lifestyle of the time. While numerous other objects, probably from his home, were connected to the sacred ritual of farewell.

The archeological evidence points to a relationship between the Picene nobility and the Etruscan culture, with which they had interactions and exchanges throughout history.

The artifacts discovered, which include food and drink containers and utensils for banquets, provide an intriguing look into the daily routines and habits of prominent members of the ancient Picene society.

This discovery is part of the ArcheoNevola Project, directed by the University of Bologna in collaboration with the Municipality of Corinaldo and the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the provinces of Ancona and Pesaro Urbino.

A blue painted shrine is the latest discovery in Pompeii ‘treasure chest’

Archaeologists have unearthed an intricately decorated blue room, interpreted as an ancient Roman shrine known as a sacrarium, during recent excavations in central Pompeii in Italy.

The Italian Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, visited the site on Tuesday, describing the ancient city as “a treasure chest that is still partly unexplored.”

The blue color found in this new discovery is rare, with the culture ministry outlining that it is generally associated with environments of great decorative importance.

An in-depth analysis of the room, according to the ministry, found that the space could be interpreted as a sacrarium or a space dedicated to ritual activities and the conservation of sacred objects.

The walls of the room feature female figures that are said to depict the four seasons of the year, as well as allegories of agriculture and shepherding.

The new discovery came amid excavations in the Regio IX area of central Pompeii, a residential area that is currently one of the most active excavation sites for new findings.

The excavations are part of a broader project to secure a perimeter between the excavated and non-excavated areas of the archaeological park, which currently has more than 13,000 excavated rooms.

The project aims to improve the structure of the area, making the “protection of the vast Pompeiian heritage… more effective and sustainable,” the culture ministry said.

Other recent findings in the area include furnishings belonging to a house, a bronze kit with two jugs and two lamps, building materials used in renovations, and the shells of oysters that had been consumed.

Last week, it was reported that archaeologists in Pompeii had uncovered children’s sketches depicting violent scenes of gladiators and hunters battling animals.

The drawings, thought to be made by children between the ages of five and seven sometime before Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, were found on the walls of a back room in the residential sector of the archaeological park.

They showed that even children in ancient times were exposed to extreme violence.

Iron Age necropolis that predates Rome unearthed near Naples

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.

Early Italy

According to legend, the mythical hero Romulus founded the city of Rome in 753 B.C. amid a dispute with his twin brother Remus; but archaeologists think Rome developed from a union of several hilltop villages after about the tenth century B.C., during the Iron Age.

The early Roman state fought many wars against its neighbors, including Etruscan city-states and other Latin-speaking peoples; and in the fourth century B.C., the Romans fought a series of wars against the Samnites, who mainly lived southeast of Rome in the mountainous Apennine region.

Rome was ultimately victorious, however, and the Samnites were assimilated into Roman society after the Third Samnite War, from 298 until 290 B.C., after which Rome went on to conquer the whole of Italy and to start colonies further afield.

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.

Ancient necropolis 

The burial ground near Amorosi was discovered by archaeologists investigating the area before a new power plant is built there. The power plant is intended to supply electricity to a high-speed upgrade of the railway between Naples and the city of Bari, on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

As well as the pit tombs, the necropolis features two large burial mounds — about 50 feet (15 meters) across — that the archaeologists think cover the tombs of elite members of the ancient society.

The mounds are now the only visible features of the necropolis, and have been known about for millennia, but the latest excavations have only now revealed the many tombs around them, according to news reports.

The tombs, artifacts and human remains they contain will now be studied in a laboratory that’s been set up at the site, the statement said.

Ancient Roman city of Pompeii, archaeologists have unearthed a fresco depicting the Greek mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle

Archaeologists excavating a house adjacent to the House of Leda in Insula 6, Regio V, in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have unearthed a fresco depicting the Greek mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle (also known as Ellie).

Still astonishingly colorful some 2,000 years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius wiped out the city, the frescoes were unearthed during restoration work around the mansion of the House of Leda.

The director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, described the discovery as a poignant reflection of history unfolding.

The unearthed fresco depicts two refugees at sea from ancient Greece, Phrixus and Elle, brother and sister who flee their home after being driven out by their stepmother, who has bribed Delphi’s oracle to have the children killed in order to end the famine that has befallen their homeland.

The two siblings are rescued by Hera, and they escape on the Golden Fleece ram. Elle slips from the ram and drowns in the strait between Europe and Asia (named after her, or the Hellespont). In the fresco, she is seen disappearing into the waves, while her brother Frisso survives.

It is “a fresco in an excellent state of preservation,” as Archaeological Park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel put it, depicting “a myth typical of ancient Greece, but also of Pompeii, where Greek myth is very much present in all homes and is also an example of how myth, storytelling through images, wall decoration becomes part of a lived environment like this small house, not very large, but richly decorated, which tries through the paintings to emulate, to imitate the tone of life of the elites.”

The fresco is painted as if it were a framed picture, hung on a yellow wall. Others depicting still life images and several portraits of women have also been newly revealed.

Zuchtriegel also expressed hope for making these meticulously preserved homes available to the public shortly, emphasizing the cultural and historical significance of this latest discovery.

Unexpected discoveries in recent months include thirteen Nativity-style statuettes that revealed evidence of pagan ritual customs in the ancient Roman city and, in June of last year, a remarkable still-life fresco that resembled a pizza and contained an object that appeared to be a pineapple.

A ‘very rare’ clay figurine of the god Mercury and a previously unknown Roman settlement were discovered at the excavation site in Kent

At a previously unknown Roman settlement that was formerly next to a busy port but is now 10 miles from the sea, a very rare clay figurine of the god Mercury—one of less than 10 found in Britain—was found.

The settlement, located in the modern hamlet of Smallhythe (or Small Hythe), near Tenterden in Kent, is surrounded by fields but was once an important link in the Roman Empire’s import and infrastructure network in southern England and the Channel.

Smallhythe Place has been one of the most significant shipyards in medieval England. It cared for since 1947 by the National Trust.

While excavating the National Trust plot, archaeologists came across earlier evidence of a Roman settlement, in use between the 1st and 3rd centuries.

The discovery that it had previously also been the site of a Roman settlement, along with the artifacts found there, was “massively exciting”, according to Nathalie Cohen, a National Trust archaeologist.

The settlement was small in scale and modest in prestige, said Cohen. “It’s not Roman Londinium, it’s not Cirencester. It’s a smallish settlement by a port.” That said, “it would have been vital in the logistics chain for exporting timber and iron out of [south-east England] and importing materials from the continent”.

The waterside site’s significance is further highlighted by another find from the area: a tile bearing the stamp of the Classis Britannica, the Roman fleet in Britain.

Among the finds was the head of a figurine of the god Mercury made from pipeclay. While Mercury is the most common god for metal figurines, pipeclay examples are extremely rare.

Roman figurines in pipeclay were mainly used for private religious practice and placed in the graves of children.

Pipeclay figurines were made of clays local to central Gaul (modern-day France) and the Rhine-Moselle region and were imported, however, most pipeclay figurines found in Britain are of female deities, the majority being of Venus.

The 5cm-tall (2in) head of Mercury was discovered with no body. This complete figurine probably would have depicted Mercury standing, either draped with a chlamys (a short cloak), or naked, holding a caduceus (a staff with two intertwined snakes).

Mercury was the god of all the fine arts as well as commerce and financial success. Religion was an important part of daily life in most Roman provinces, and statues and portable figurines of gods, such as the one discovered at Smallhythe, were worshipped by both the Roman elite and ordinary citizens in their homes. Therefore, rather than appearing in a grand temple, experts believe that the statue is likely to have a more modest use.

“Intriguingly, it appears to have been deliberately broken, perhaps indicating a ritual significance,” said Matthew Fittock, an expert on ceramic figurines in Roman Britain. “Rather than pieces being discarded because they were broken, there is evidence to suggest that deliberately breaking some figurine heads was an important ritual practice, whereas whole figurines are usually found in graves.”

The Mercury head, along with other finds from the excavation, will go on show from 28 February at Smallhythe Place.

A Large Copper Age Necropolis Discovered in Italian Town

In the town of San Giorgio Bigarello, near the northern Italia city of Mantua, a large Copper Age necropolis dating back to about 5000 years ago has been discovered.

The discovery of the large necropolis has proved to be a surprise both in terms of the quantity of excavated tombs, a total of 22, and the archaeological data that promise to be very valuable for researchers.

The unexpected number of graves and the exquisitely crafted weapons discovered in some of them are likely to provide new insights into the prehistoric inhabitants of this region of northern Italy.

Excavated in November 2023 and January-February 2024, the first isolated tombs were, in fact, only a small portion of a larger cemetery, the precise dimensions of which have undoubtedly been lost over the ages.

A variety of flint weapons were found in many tombs, including expertly crafted daggers, flawless arrowheads, and other blades.

Aside from that, SAP archaeologists, working under the scientific guidance of Simone Sestito, the archaeological officer of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Mantova, and with the enthusiastic support of the town’s municipal administration, also discovered jewelry, such as necklace beads, made of materials that raise some preliminary questions regarding chronology and are most likely from the 4th millennium BCE.

The majority of the burials discovered at Bigarello are simple individual inhumations, with the deceased lying on their left sides, legs bent to their chests, and heads oriented northwest.

Since excavations began again in January, 19 more graves have been discovered, supporting the archaeologists’ theories that this was a cemetery rather than a few haphazard burials.

The 22 burials were discovered only 40 or so centimeters below the surface.

The region that is now Mantua was a part of the River Mincio basin during the Neolithic (c. 6000–4,000 B.C.) and Chalcolithic (c. 4000-1700 B.C.) periods.

The famous Neolithic double-burial, the Lovers of Valdaro, was discovered in San Giorgio Bigarello. It is certainly not new to archaeological finds of considerable value.