The early and Middle Bronze Age (1/2) in South and central Tyrrhenian Italy and their connections with the Avellino eruption: An overview

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the status quaestionis regarding the chronology of the Early and Middle Bronze age in South and Central Tyrrhenian Italy (Fig. 1). In terms of ceramic relative chronology, the central region has always been linked to the northern Italian cultures and, through them, to the central European chronology. The relative chronological framework of the southern region, on the other hand, also relies on Aegean imported goods. Both regions share a common chronological scheme based on metal artefacts that, in turn, is linked to the European chronology. Unfortunately, the connections between ceramics and metal artefacts are often problematic. However, the recent discovery in southern Latium of the distal tephra of the so-called Avellino Vesuvian eruption, and the possible presence of other southern tephra from Vesuvius, opens up new opportunities for synchronising the different chronological sequences. In this paper I will first present the state of debate about the northern Italian chronology and about the Aegean connections in South Italy, discussing in turn the chronologies of Central and southern Italy. I will then present a Bayesian model for the chronology of the Avellino eruption and discuss its consequences for the Italian chronological framework at the beginning of the Bronze Age. All radiocarbon analyses were done with OxCal 4.3.2, IntCal13