Archaeologists have discovered a “monumental necropolis” dating to the pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BCE-1 BCE) in Santa Croce, according Italian officials.
The ancient cemetery found in the Northern Italian city of Trento includes at least 200 individual tombs. Experts believe the discovery provides new details on the region’s history. The necropolis was discovered while restoration and development work was taking place on a historic building in the area. The project was led by the city’s archaeological heritage office, according to a news release from Trento’s provincial council.
According to CBS News, prehistoric flooding from nearby rivers likely helped preserve the necropolis by effectively sealing the sediment and allowing the burial ground to remain intact for 2500 years or more.
In addition to cremated human remains, Italian archaeologists unearthed graves which contained items for the dead known as “grave goods”. These included decorative objects, metal weapons, as well as glass and amber items indicating the people who built the necropolis were either culturally influenced or connected to other Italian groups from that time period.
Archaeologists also uncovered fibers inside some of the tombs that likely came from fabric used to wrap around the ashes of the dead.
“We have the possibility of recognizing the elite of a society that was evidently settled in the Trento basin,” Excavation superintendent Franco Marzatico said in a statement, adding that the burial rituals represent power, privilege and status.
Francesca Gerosa, the vice president and provincial councilor of culture in Trento, said the necropolis “shows us a new history of the city” in a statement translated from Italian. Gerosa noted the discovery offers a deeper look into Trento’s past, as more than “just a Roman city.”
“We know how important the commitment to research and protection of the heritage of our roots is … and here we are working intensely to bring to light a piece of history unknown to the city,” she said.
The main feature of the necropolis is the presence of tall limestone pillars known as funerary steles up to 7.9 feet in height. These were arranged vertically to mark individual graves, and corresponded to lithic boxes and marked main tombs, while “a dense concentration of satellite tombs developed over time”.
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