Tidbits from the Italian Press

A few weeks ago a gold cup dated to the Early Bronze Age was discovered at Montecchio Emilia. Its closest parallels come from Northwest Europe (Adnkronos; La Repubblica-Parma).

A large (17 cm) Nuragic bronze of a sitting priest(?) was found near Oristano, bringing the total of known seated Nuragic bronzes to three (ANSA; L'Unione Sarda).

A 4th c. CE mosaic depicting a mounted hunter spearing a boar was discovered by students at Empoli, loc. dell’Oratorio delle Muriccia, just southwest of Florence (la Nazione).

An exhibit is opening at the Museo Archeologico di Amelia entitled "Convivenze. Un percorso tra archeologia e arte contemporanea" (23 June - 8 July).

The University of Basel is digging in the Macchiabate necropolis at Francavilla Marittima (Paese24.it).

And the French are digging at Terravecchia/Giarratana near Ragusa (Ragusanews.com).

A French/Bolognese team are digging the Roman city at Ostra Vetera (AN), Marche (Valmisa).

Have to mention this educational intiative entitled "Calabria Jones"...

Museums, queens and thieves

At Tarquinia, a "queenly" chariot/cart of the 7th c. BCE has been discovered in a tomb in the Tumulo della Regina. [Corriere della Sera; UnoNotizie]

The new Museo della Civiltà Sannitica at Pietrabbondante has been partially opened--or maybe not... [Nuovo Molise; ArcheoMolise]

Updates on the ongoing La Regina excavations at Pietrabbondante, including news on the so-called domus publica, over at PietrabbondanteBlog:
Nuove scoperte dagli ultimi scavi
A Pietrabbondante l’area sacra più importante della nazione sannitica

There's a bunch of artifacts from Molise (as well as Athens and Macedonia) on display in Thessaloniki for the exhibition "The Gift of Dionysos," including an ivory plaque with the head of the god, from Saepinum (image above). It runs through September of 2012. [ArcheoMolise]

A tombarolo from Ancona was arrested at Guardialfiera in Molise recently. Along with his metal detector and digging implements were found fragments of a bronze plate. [Primo Numero; ArcheoMolise]

The Paleochristian basilica at Larino got cleaned up thanks to private initiative. [Prima Pagina Molise]

ArcheoMolise nos. 5 & 6

In lo, these many months, not one but two new issues of ArcheoMolise (ISSN: 2036-3028) have hit the stands. They are, as always, freely available as zipped pdfs from the CERP-Isernia website. I'm not sure why they don't offer tables of contents online; I suppose the zipped-only format may point to bandwidth restrictions, even in this day and age? It makes them opaque to search engines, though, so I offer contents here. They maintain a Twitter feed with recent archaeological news both local and global. The ArcheoMolise Facebook page has all of the same, with an added agitationist/activist editorial voice condemning neglect and abuse of cultural heritage of Molise

In any case, the contents of ArcheoMolise no. 5 (July - September 2010):

• An editorial by Marco Buonocore, "L'epigrafia nel Molise: quale futuro?" (p. 5).
• Federica Fontana and Antonella Minelli, "Accampamenti preistorici in quota. Il sito di San Lorenzo (Civitanova del Sannio, Isernia) nell' Appennino molisano," pp. 6-15.
• Enza Zullo (ed.), "L'area archeologica di Piazza Mercato ad Isernia," pp. 16-23.
• Walter Santoro, "L'oblio della memoria storica. La Taverna del Cortiglio sul tratturo Lucero-Castel di Sangro," pp. 24-33.
• Alessandro Testa, "Il culto dei Sanniti alla luce della comparazione indo-europea," pp. 34-51.
• Antonia Valillo (ed.), "La Carrese di San Padro a Larino. Momenti di devozione popolare," pp. 52-59.
• G. Lembo, A. di Nucci, M.A. Rufo, & B. Muttillo, "Come divulgare l'archeologia. L'esempio dei laboratori di preistoria dell'Associazione ArcheoIdea," pp. 60-69.
  
  

And the contents of ArcheoMolise no. 6 (October - December 2010):

• Giovanna Falasca, "Santa Maria di Monteverde. Breve excursus su un'area di interesse storico e archeologico." pp. 6-17.
• Bruno Sardella, "Sprondasino e San Bartolomeo di Sprondasino. Due insediamenti antichi dell'alta valle del Trigno nella 'Terra dei Borrello'." pp. 18-27.
• Ulderico Iorillo, "Il complesso di Santa Maria delle Monache a Isernia. L'incidenza del sito sul tessuto urbano dal tardo-antico all'altomedioevo." pp. 28-37.
• Gabriella Di Rocco, "La media valle del Biferno tra ricerca e oblio." pp. 38-47.
• Francesco de Vincenzi, "La cartiera San Bernardo a Castel San Vincenzo. Un episodio di archeologia industriale posto alle sorgenti del Volturno." pp. 48-61.
• Andrea Di Rollo, "Sessano del Molise. Evoluzione morfologica e climatica della conca intra-montana." pp. 62-69.

I note from the "Agenda" at the back of no. 6 that you have until January 31 to visit the exhibition "Il Dono di Dioniso. Mitologia del vino nel Sannio pentro e frentano" at the Museo Sannitico in Campobasso.

Exhibit: 'Lungo le rotte dei Micenei' (Isernia)

       The Museo Archeologico Santa Maria delle Monache in Isernia, Molise, is hosting an exhibit entitled 'Lungo le Rotte dei Micenei. L’insediamento dell’età del Bronzo di Monteroduni', which runs from April 22, 2010 until January 15, 2011. The exhibit focuses on material from the settlement at Monteroduni (IS), loc. Paradiso, where 12th c. BCE levels produced ceramics of Aegean inspiration. The MiBAC site has good illustrations.

A spiral-decorated sherd [picture above; scale is 2 cm] was published by Marco Bettelli (2006. "Un frammento di ceramica micenea da Monteroduni," in Atti del XXVI Convegno sulla Preistoria e Protostoria della Daunia (San Severo, Dicembre 2005), pp. 189-194); it is more likely to be a product of an Italo-Mycenaean workshop than an import from the Greek mainland. From the same levels come fragments of impasto dolia recalling Aegean prototypes. So, yes, there is some sort of information making its way from the Greek peninsula to the Italian, but maybe at one or two removes; it seems to me a bit of a stretch to speak of "routes of the Mycenaeans"– but I'm all for whatever (within reason) brings people into museums...

An account of the 2002-2007 Monteroduni excavations can be found in the latest issue of Archeomolise (2010. no. 4) pp. 20-31.

See also:
Cazzella A., De Dominicis A., Recchia G. & Ruggini C. 2005. "Il sito dell’età del Bronzo recente di Monteroduni – Paradiso (IS)." Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche, LV. pp. 384-438.

Recchia G., De Dominicis A. & Ruggini C. .2006. "Monteroduni – loc. Paradiso (IS): nuovi dati sull’occupazione del sito." Atti del 26° Convegno Nazionale sulla Preistoria Protostoria e Storia della Daunia, San Severo, 2005. pp. 171-188.

Cazzella A., De Dominicis A., Recchia G. & Ruggini C. 2007. "Elementi di ispirazione egea dai livelli della tarda età del Bronzo del sito di Monteroduni – loc. Paradiso (IS)." Conoscenze. Rivista Semestrale della Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici del Molise, 2005 (1/2). pp. 35-44.

Cazzella A., De Dominicis A. & Ruggini C. 2008. "Recenti scavi nell’insediamento dell’età del Bronzo di Monteroduni (località Paradiso)." Atti del 28° Convegno Nazionale sulla Preistoria Protostoria e Storia della Daunia, San Severo, 2007. pp. 239-250.

News for February and March

So much for all that free time... here's a brief rundown of some things that have accumulated lately.

First of all, I've been extremely remiss in neglecting to mention my friend Ross Cowan's blog. Ross is the author of, among others, The Roman Conquests: Italy, and he's been blogging about related topics. Ross has also got an article in the latest issue of the magazine Ancient Warfare, which issue (table of contents) is dedicated to "A multitude of peoples: Before Rome ruled Italy" (you know you've always wanted a two-page spread painting of the Battle of Bovianum!). I also learn that Cambridge will be republishing Salmon's Samnium and the Samnites come April -- mirabile dictu!

Big news this month is the discovery at Gabii of an Archaic tripartite building identified as a regia [La Repubblica - photos; MiBAC].

Twenty Etruscan fossa tombs were discovered at Marina Velka near Tarquinia, two of which were hit by tombaroli, along with Roman habitation [Viterbo Oggi; Viterbo Notizie].

Artifacts from three museums in Castiglion Fiorentino (Arezzo) are on display at Castel Sant' Angelo until April 11.

The Pontecagnano museum has supposedly reopened.

There's a call for papers for an Accordia conference on Etruscan Literacy in its Social Context (22-23 September 2010), deadline April 30.

The X Incontro di Studi su Preistoria e Protostoria in Etruria (10-12 September 2010) has as its theme "L’Etruria dal Paleolitico al Primo Ferro. Lo stato delle ricerche". (more)


The latest Journal of Field Archaeology (Vol. 34, issue 4) includes "Remote Sensing and Archaeological Prospection in Apulia , Italy", by S.A. Ross, A. Sobotkova and G.-J. Burgers (pp. 423-438).

Greece and Rome (Vol. 57, issue 1: April 1, 2010):
E. Bragg, "Roman Seaborne Raids During the Mid - Republic : Sideshow or Headline Feature ?" (pp. 47-64)

The Classical Review (New Series), Volume 60, Issue 01, April 2010:
• Witcher on Isayev, Inside Ancient Lucania (2007)
• Mattingly on Revell, Roman Imperialism and Local Identities (2009)
• Roth on Wallace-Hadrill, Rome's Cultural Revolution (2008)
• Perfigli on Clark, Divine Qualities. Cult and Community in Republican Rome (2007)
• Bücher on Jehne & Pfeilschifter (eds.), Herrschaft ohne Integration? Rom und Italien in Republikanischer Zeit (2006)
• Hogg on Briquel, Mythe et révolution. La Fabrication d'un récit: la naissance de la république à Rome (2007)

Bryn Mawr Classical Review:
• I. Edlund-Berry on Daniele Federico Maras, Il dono votivo: Gli dei e il sacro nelle iscrizioni etrusche di culto.
• eadem on Laura Maniscalco (ed.), Il santuario dei Palici: un centro di culto nella Valle del Margi. Collana d'Area. Quaderno n. 11.
• C. Bailey on Harriet Flower, Roman Republics
• C. Smith on Sinclair Bell & Helen Nagy (eds.), New Perspectives on Etruria and Early Rome: In Honor of Richard Daniel De Puma
• N. Carayon on Castagnino Berlinghieri, Elena Flavia, Carmelo Monaco, Il sistema portuale di Catania antica: studi interdisciplinari di geo-archeologia marittima.
• G. van Heems on Enrico Benelli (ed.), Thesaurus Linguae Etruscae. I. Indice lessicale. Seconda edizione...

Exhibits ending and beginning

If you were in Rome on November 20 you might have seen the Ara Pacis brilliantly lit up in its original colors by a fancy projection system. [ANSA]

If you're in Rome between now and December 13, you still have time to catch the exhibit Etruschi e Fenici sul mare: da Pyrgi a Cartagine ("Etruscans and Phoenicians at sea: from Pyrgi to Carthage") at the Vittoriano. [via Archaeogate; Provincia di Roma]

If you time it right, you can then head up to Bologna for the opening on December 12 of the exhibit Cavalieri etruschi dalle Valli al Po: Tra Reno e Panaro, la valle del Samoggia nell’VIII e VII sec.a.C. ("Etruscan horsemen from the Vales to the Po: Between Reno and Panaro, the Valle del Samoggia in the 8th and 7th c. BCE"), which runs until April 5, 2010. [photo above; via Archaeogate; press release; exhibit page]

And another if: the Museo delle navi antiche di Pisa might partially open to the public in April 2010. [via Storia Romana].

Heroes and villains, dogs and goats

The Museo Civico Archeologico di Fara in Sabina [excellent website] has mounted an exhibit entitled "Un Re, un Guerriero, un Eroe | La tomba 36 della necropoli sabina di Eretum." The three-chambered Tomb 36 of the Colle del Forno necropolis, discovered in 2005, contained the burial of a Sabine potentate of the late 6th c. BCE, his ashes deposited in a wooden box draped with a gold-embroidered cloth, along with his arms, bronze cauldrons, a terracotta throne, a chariot and sacrificed horses. It's certainly worth noting here that the contents of another rich tomb of the same necropolis, Tomb XI [another excellent website], dating to the early 7th c. BCE, are currently on display in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, having been looted in the 1970s and passed through the hands of the infamous Robert Hecht [NYTimes (16/3/2009); Looting Matters (17/3/09); Iconoclasm (18/5/09); Iconoclasm (18/10/09)].

Apropos of the previous post, a 4th-3rd c. BCE Greek necropolis was discovered in the territory of Castellaneta (Ta), unfortunately already looted [Corriere del Mezzogiorno; AGI]

Speaking of looting, SafeCorner reports on the "L'Arma per L'Arte 1969-2009" exhibit at Castel Sant'Angelo, celebrating 40 years of the Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela Patrimonio Culturale.

Cultural patrimony laws got you down? Now you can get your very own legal memento of a trip to Italy-- adopt a stray dog from Pompeii, via the "(C)Ave Canem" project [News in English; official Italian site].

....and, the mostly* gratuitous link of the day:
Extinct Goat Tried out Reptilian, Cold-Blooded Living

*(it has to do with adapting to a small Mediterranean island -- Majorca, in this case)

Umbrian Roundup

The XXVII Convegno di Studi Etruschi ed Italici will run from October 27 to 31 in Perugia, Gubbio, and Urbino, on the topic 'Gli Umbri in età preromana'. More information, and the program (pdf).

Back in the beginning of September, in Perugia, a Roman kiln for roof-tiles was discovered. (link)

News from the Soprintendenza for Umbria:
- 2nd century CE Roman tombs discovered at Gubbio (link).
- The Museo Archeologico in Orvieto is revamping its exhibits to display little-known and unpublished material from the Crocifisso del Tufo necropolis, and by the end of autumn will have an area devoted to research on the Campo della Fiera (link).
- In Perugia, the exhibit "Mira et Magica," which focuses on ancient inscribed gems, runs from September 25 to December 31, 2009 (link).
- In Spoleto, the Archaeological Museum has opened a second new gallery, "Dal Municipio all'età Imperiale" (link).
- The Museo Civico in Todi has opened a new display of local stone artifacts dating from antiquity to the present day, including a sundial and an Augustan altar (link).