During the 2018 field season of the Necropilis of Poggio Gramignano - Lugnano in Teverina (Italy), a remarkable discovery was made. In the early afternoon under the beating July sun, while the cicadas sang out from the old oak tree looming over the villa’s ruins, the archaeologists involved in the project began to reveal the first signs of a new burial. Amphorae sherds capped a tegula (roof tile) leaning up against one of the storage magazine’s walls. But as excavation continued, it became clear to all that this burial was different. Not long after Gabriele and Danny had come across the first signs of this burial, the two had fully uncovered a partial “alla cappuccina” style burial, much larger than those so far discovered at Poggio Gramignano. Alla cappuccina burials are typical of this cemetery and Roman Italy in general, in which tegulae are stacked and pitched against one another to create a make-shift tomb, often for ordinary individuals. This was a partial alla cappuccina burial, constructed by leaning two large roof tiles against an existing wall of the room. Beneath the tegulae was found the remains of a single individual placed resting on the left side and facing the wall of the room. Designated as “Burial 51,” this individual and the burial are remarkable for two reasons. First, this child is much older than those infants and children so far discovered (52 in total). Based on the stage of dental development evident, this young child (whose sex remains undetermined at this moment) was around 10 years old at the time of its death. While the body had been subject to some taphonomic disturbance over time, it was well-protected by the tegulae, evidenced by the skeleton’s completeness and the high degree of articulation. This preservation made the second remarkable fact of this burial all the more apparent. A stone was found within his or her mouth. This stone was revealed to be a small limestone cut in a shape similar to a wall cubilium. A cubilium is a kind of cut stone crafted by the Romans, pointed on end and inserted into stone-faced cement walls. Because of the way the child’s head was positioned, the jaw would not have fallen open as the masseter muscles decomposed, suggesting that the placement of the stone was intentional and did not result from the slow collapse of the surrounding edifice. Moreover, this stone had cement on two sides, in which small tooth-shaped depressions are visible, lending further weight to the interpretation that the stone was purposefully inserted within the child’s mouth.
Pickel D, Montagnetti R, Soren D (2019). Pietre contro la malaria. ARCHEO, 412, ISSN: 1120-4559
Montagnetti Roberto
Validation
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2019-01-01
Abstract
During the 2018 field season of the Necropilis of Poggio Gramignano - Lugnano in Teverina (Italy), a remarkable discovery was made. In the early afternoon under the beating July sun, while the cicadas sang out from the old oak tree looming over the villa’s ruins, the archaeologists involved in the project began to reveal the first signs of a new burial. Amphorae sherds capped a tegula (roof tile) leaning up against one of the storage magazine’s walls. But as excavation continued, it became clear to all that this burial was different. Not long after Gabriele and Danny had come across the first signs of this burial, the two had fully uncovered a partial “alla cappuccina” style burial, much larger than those so far discovered at Poggio Gramignano. Alla cappuccina burials are typical of this cemetery and Roman Italy in general, in which tegulae are stacked and pitched against one another to create a make-shift tomb, often for ordinary individuals. This was a partial alla cappuccina burial, constructed by leaning two large roof tiles against an existing wall of the room. Beneath the tegulae was found the remains of a single individual placed resting on the left side and facing the wall of the room. Designated as “Burial 51,” this individual and the burial are remarkable for two reasons. First, this child is much older than those infants and children so far discovered (52 in total). Based on the stage of dental development evident, this young child (whose sex remains undetermined at this moment) was around 10 years old at the time of its death. While the body had been subject to some taphonomic disturbance over time, it was well-protected by the tegulae, evidenced by the skeleton’s completeness and the high degree of articulation. This preservation made the second remarkable fact of this burial all the more apparent. A stone was found within his or her mouth. This stone was revealed to be a small limestone cut in a shape similar to a wall cubilium. A cubilium is a kind of cut stone crafted by the Romans, pointed on end and inserted into stone-faced cement walls. Because of the way the child’s head was positioned, the jaw would not have fallen open as the masseter muscles decomposed, suggesting that the placement of the stone was intentional and did not result from the slow collapse of the surrounding edifice. Moreover, this stone had cement on two sides, in which small tooth-shaped depressions are visible, lending further weight to the interpretation that the stone was purposefully inserted within the child’s mouth.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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