Qui in virtute crucis mundum de morte redemit. Una necropoli medievale sul Campidoglio. Prime osservazioni

Recent excavations conducted in 2021 and 2022 by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, in an area northeast of Casa Tarpea and adjacent to the former Teutonic Hospital, have provided data of particular relevance to understanding the history of the Capitoline Hill in the post-classic period. In particular, knowledge of the early medieval history of the Capitoline Hill has been enriched: the recent excavations have brought to light a small portion of a larger cemetery with earthen grave burials dating between the 8th and 12th centuries. There are a total of 7 inhumations, some of which had been severely damaged by modern construction activities and/or by various phenomena of stratigraphic collapse characteristic of the area under investigation and, more generally, of this side of the Hill. The individuals uncovered were identified as 6 males and 1 subadult, suggesting a possible monastic context for the cemetery. Particularly noteworthy is the burial of an adult individual (T2), who was found with a marble slab placed on the left side of his rib cage featuring an early medieval Christian funerary etched poem. Excavation data, anthropological results, and a discussion on the meaning of these findings are presented here.