Dusting off the archives: reconstructing the legacy of the Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery of Timmari (Matera, Italy).

In the early 1900s, D. Ridola and Q. Quagliati uncovered an urnfield on the slopes of Mount Timbro near Matera (MT, Basilicata). This discovery highlighted what was, at the time, and still is, one of the largest urnfields in Southern Italy. The excavation revealed 248 graves, now housed and displayed in the Ridola National Archaeological Museum in Matera and in the Superintendence Office in Taranto. Numerous scholars have studied this site throughout the years, with further excavations in the 2000s uncovering another 32 burials. However, a comprehensive analysis of this context has never been conducted, and the necropolis has remained mostly unknown despite its importance in Southern Italy's Late Bronze Age evidence. By revisiting past documentation, we have managed to reconstruct the research history of Timmari and restore access to information that was once lost. Indeed, the transition from a physical to a digital archive was a significant aim in information retrieval, primarily to reduce the risk of additional damage and loss. In fact, the recovery process revealed that the most significant loss of information did not occur during the excavation or documentation phases but rather during the conservation stage. This paper aims to illustrate the methodological solutions we have applied to tackle problems associated with artefacts and documentation manipulation during the postexcavation phase (e.g. errors in the artefact inventory or unreadable labels) and also demonstrate how the information collected through the recovery of legacy data has enabled a detailed picture of the occupation history of the Timmari cemetery, thereby extending our knowledge in the funerary customs of Late Bronze Age societies.