La necropoli di San Martino a Capena: nuovi appunti sulla topografia

This paper presents an analysis of the excavations carried out in the pre-Roman necropolis of San Martino, linked to the ancient Capena. The research in this burial site began in the 19th century and brought to light more than 500 (pit and especially chamber) tombs, which can be dated from the end of the Iron Age to the 1st century B.C., with rare attestations up to the Roman and Medieval period. Thanks to a detailed analysis of archival and cadastral materials, it is now possible to present a new set of a partially unpublished data, and above all to attempt a positioning of the various excavation activities that took place on the San Martino hill. The research conducted to outline an updated general planimetry reveals a complex articulation of the entire necropolis in relation to the topography of the hill, which could be one of several indicators related to the existence of a centralised planning and management of the burial ground since at least the recent Orientalizing period by the political authority ruling Capena.