One distinctive feature of the Final Bronze Age (XII-X cen. BC) is the widespread adoption of the ‘urnfield’ model as a funerary custom, which marks the transition from inhumation burial to cremation. Between the 1970s and 1990s, the Final Bronze Age was an extensively discussed subject in the Italian academic debate. In recent years the discourse has focused on central and northern Italy since most of the early twentieth century discoveries in the South remained unpublished or partially known. In the site of Torre Castelluccia (TA) were investigated both acropolis and tombs of different types and chronology. The area of the Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery was excavated in two campaigns, discovering 85 graves: C. Drago conducted the first one in 1951, followed by F.G. Lo Porto in 1969. About half a century before D. Ridola and Q. Quagliati had discovered an urnfield on the slopes of Mount Timmari (MT). The excavation, which took place in the summer of 1901, brought to light 248 burials. The recovery of archival data (diaries, inventories, photos, plans, and drawings) and the storage of information in a single database have allowed a comparative study showing a remarkable affinity between the two cemeteries, which probably had a parallel development. Nowadays, the pandemic has forced an inevitable pause reducing the chances for discoveries in the field; for this reason, it is even more important to recover legacy data from past excavations and thus provide new insights that will revitalize the debate.

Re-searching urnfields from Southern Italy: using legacy data for new sight on the Final Bronze Age / Pizzuti, Elisa. - (2021). (Intervento presentato al convegno Cambridge Annual Student Archaeology Conference 2020: Diversity in Archaeology. McDonald Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge tenutosi a Cambridge, England).

Re-searching urnfields from Southern Italy: using legacy data for new sight on the Final Bronze Age

Elisa Pizzuti
2021

Abstract

One distinctive feature of the Final Bronze Age (XII-X cen. BC) is the widespread adoption of the ‘urnfield’ model as a funerary custom, which marks the transition from inhumation burial to cremation. Between the 1970s and 1990s, the Final Bronze Age was an extensively discussed subject in the Italian academic debate. In recent years the discourse has focused on central and northern Italy since most of the early twentieth century discoveries in the South remained unpublished or partially known. In the site of Torre Castelluccia (TA) were investigated both acropolis and tombs of different types and chronology. The area of the Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery was excavated in two campaigns, discovering 85 graves: C. Drago conducted the first one in 1951, followed by F.G. Lo Porto in 1969. About half a century before D. Ridola and Q. Quagliati had discovered an urnfield on the slopes of Mount Timmari (MT). The excavation, which took place in the summer of 1901, brought to light 248 burials. The recovery of archival data (diaries, inventories, photos, plans, and drawings) and the storage of information in a single database have allowed a comparative study showing a remarkable affinity between the two cemeteries, which probably had a parallel development. Nowadays, the pandemic has forced an inevitable pause reducing the chances for discoveries in the field; for this reason, it is even more important to recover legacy data from past excavations and thus provide new insights that will revitalize the debate.
2021
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1663536
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