A preserved sticked tomb, which was preserved 2,600 years old, was discovered in San Giuliano, on the set of Barbarano Romano, northwest of Rome, in the Latium region. This sector, integrated into the Marturanum Regional Park, houses one of the largest rock necropolises in central Italy, occupied from the 8th to the 3rd century BC. AD The granted burial dates from the end of the 7th century BC. It has retained its furniture and the integrity of its remains, which makes it an exceptional case in this area regularly pillaged since Antiquity.
The funeral chamber, sealed by a stone slab, contains four remains of individuals lying on stone beds, surrounded by more than a hundred objects. The furniture consists in particular of 74 ceramic vases, including several decorated with Etruscan geometric patterns, iron weapons, bronze and silver ornaments, a metal basin (Bacile) and fibulae, some of which still have traces of tissue. The objects had been arranged according to a precise ritual arrangement, in particular near the entrance. These elements deliver a complete overview of the funeral practices of the local elite during this period.
The excavation, now completed, has been conducted as part of the SGARP (San Giuliano Archaeological Research Project) project, managed by Baylor University in Texas, in partnership with the Soprintendenza Archaeological de Viterbe and the Italian Ministry of Culture. Objects, skeletons and organic samples are being analyzed. Archaeologists provide isotopic, genetic, typological and physico-chemical studies on ceramics and metals, in order to identify the origins of materials, food regimes and kinship ties. “The data study is just beginning”said Davide Zori, project director.
The excavation mobilized archaeologists, students and researchers Italian and American. Since 2016, SGARP cartography and has been studying the rock tombs of the Plateau according to a multidisciplinary approach. More than 600 graves have been identified around San Giuliano, the majority of whom had been pillaged or opened for centuries.
The Barbarano Romano region is located south of Etruie proper, near the Cités de Véies and Tarquinia. From the ninth century BC. AD, Villanovian culture gave way to a Etruscan aristocracy, which erected monumental tombs dug in the tuf. The furniture found in San Giuliano testify to exchanges with the Greek world, as well as complex funeral practices. The tray was occupied without discontinuing until the Middle Ages.
Intact Etruscan Funeral Contents are rare. The majority of known burials were opened, often from Antiquity, then emptied in modern or contemporary times. According to the researcher Barbara Barbaro, “This discovery makes it possible to observe life through the prism of death, in a preserved archaeological context” At Heritage Daily.
