The Necropolis of Novilara is an archaeological site in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, Italy. It is one of the most well-studied funerary sites of the ancient Picene culture.
Excavation history In 1860, a limestone stab depicting a naval scene was uncovered in San Nicola in Val Manente, near Novilara, though this discovery only became known to the broader archaeological community in 1871. In 1865, another slab—this one engraved with geometric and spiral designs—was uncovered in the courtyard of don Romolo Molaroni, the priest of Novilara. Spurred by these two finds, in 1873, Count Dario Bonamini attempted to excavate the site and, although he did uncover several graves, all documentation of the discoveries has been lost. In 1891, an archaeologist named Francesco Gamurrini heard reports that, 18 years prior, certain artifacts were discovered on the estate of Countess Servici at Novilara. Gamurrini conducted a one-day-long excavation in the area, which only yielded two new graves. Nevertheless, the results of his research were published in the in 1892, where they then attracted the attention of the archaeologist Edoardo Brizio, who recognized the tombs as typologically similar to other graves uncovered at Numana.
Brizio was appointed by the Italian government to conduct excavations in the area, which began in July 1892 and ended in 1893. Brizio subdivided the necropolis into two regions, which were dubbed the and areas according to the names of the original landowners. Brizio discovered at least 263 graves, 142 in the area and 121 in the , most of which dated to around the 8th or 7th-centuries BCE. During the 1892–1893 excavations, the archaeologist Raniero Mengarelli sought to classify the graves according to gender and age class. He determined gender based on the burial goods, and the age class based upon the size of the skeleton, which itself partially relied upon estimates of height obtained from measurements of the femur. Later in 1893, the anthropologist Giuseppe Sergi himself sought to identify the sex and age of the deceased, basing his analysis upon examination of the skulls and estimations of stature that employed the Manouvrier method, which was—at this time—the foremost technique for such studies. The majority of the artifacts discovered during the 1892–1893 excavation were stored in the Oliveriano Museum. However, the artifacts did not remain entirely safe: The museum suffered damages from an earthquake in 1916 and later it was looted during World War II. German soldiers stole 6 boxes containing grave goods from Novilara, though much of the material was eventually recovered.
Later research at the site began in 1912 at the behest of the archaeologist Innocenzo Dall’Osso, whose excavations resulted in the discovery of 33 tombs in the area. Dall'Osso stored most of the findings in the archaeological museum of Ancona, all of which were lost after the Allied bombing of the city in 1944. In March 2012, as a consequence of a construction project to expand the A14 motorway, new excavations began in the area under the auspices of the . From 2012 to 2013, a team of archaeologists and anthropologists led by Chiara Delpino reexamined 36 previously discovered burials and uncovered 150 additional graves, which themselves also dated to the 8th-century BCE. The methods used in this excavation were negotiated with the Mundys corporation so as the avoid disrupting the construction efforts. Ultimately, the archaeologists sectioned the area into numerous portions each situated either perpendicular or parallel to the tunnel, thereby allowing for construction work to remain uninterrupted whilst permitting thorough archaeological research.
Graves
Burial organization
With the exception of one cremation burial, all of the deceased were laid on their right side in fetal position within simple trenches, almost always with wooden planks both covering and running across the sides of the tomb. Given the highly compacted position of the deceased, it is likely that they were wrapped in a shroud tightened with laces. Typically, items connected to social status—including genderized goods—were positioned next to the corpse, while any personal adornments were often situated above the body, and vessels were most usually placed either between the feet or in the corner of the trench beside the head. In general, any garments were placed near the body parts they had adorned in life—necklaces were placed near the necks, rings near the fingers, bracelets on the arms, fibulae on the chest, and earrings beside the head. According to Delpino, the high degree of similarity across most of the burials implies the existence of shared cultural ideals dictating such behavior and potentially even authorities capable of enforcing such rules.
In about 5% of the burials unearthed during the 2012–2013 excavations, a layer of sea pebbles covered the bottom of the tomb. This type of interment is not restricted to Novilara and appears across Picenum, though—within Novilara—it is confined to exclusively the northeastern section of the cemetery. It is possible that this burial type was connected with some distinct cultural group or social status; they are usually accompanied by more luxurious grave goods than other burials. Another tomb from the cemetery contains a layer of lime and pebbles placed at the bottom of the grave, thereby preventing direct contact between the ground and the deceased.
The tombs are not evenly distributed across the cemetery site; certain areas are more densely packed with burials than others, perhaps reflecting an intentional attempt to conglomerate burials in kinship clusters. Burials were not segregated by age—the graves of adults are situated in close proximity to child tombs, and—in two instances—a child and an adult were interred in the same burial. However, the vast majority of the graves included only one corpse, though—as noted—there are still several exceptions: Three tombs included two individuals who were buried simultaneously, two tombs showcased the reuse of an older burial site, and another grave contained two individuals who were interred at separate times.
In grave 171, two adults—one female and one probably male—were interred in the same tomb, though at separate times. The grave goods within this burial consisted of characteristically feminine brooches and other ornaments, though there was a set of masculine brooches lain across the woman's body, which were perhaps once wrapped in a textile such as a shroud. Given that the male was probably the first one to be interred within this tomb, it is possible that his burial goods were relocated onto the female when the tomb was reopened for her burial, presumably with her feminine grave goods then deposited at the site. Autosomal analysis of the entombed skeletons strongly suggests that they did not share any family relationship, although it is still possible that they may have held some social or legal connection. Similar autosomal analysis, this time performed upon a grave containing two female skeletons, also revealed that the occupants likewise lacked any familial link.
Genderized burials
Female burials
Amongst adult internments, female burials often included items related to weaving, such as textiles, spools, needles, loom weights, stitching awls, spindles, and spindle whorls. There is a positive, though not statistically significant, correlation between the age of females and the presence of textile items in their tombs. Female graves typically included a larger number of grave goods compared to male tombs, and these items were often more ostentatious burial goods than male graves. Female tombs could include personal ornaments such as fibulae, amber earrings, or pendants, and also elaborate garments embroidered with amber, glass, or bronze beads. In certain female graves, a type of large fibula with an amber bead was deposited near the top of the head of the deceased, which—according to Delpino—may indicate the presence of a headdress or a veil. Other decorations adorn a cloth outfit placed over the body between the arms and the pelvis, often with an accompanying piece fashioned of bronze rings placed at the bottom of the garment. Since the article of clothing usually lies in a flat position, Delpino argues that it is most probably not actually worn by the deceased.
Based on the funerary assemblage granted to women, it is likely that women in the local society were expected to perform primarily domestic tasks. These genderized items only begin to appear in female graves during adolescence. In one case, a girl aged between 12 and 15 years old was interred with a knife, an item that—according to Delpino—perhaps related to weaving, as small knives can be used as sewing tools. The allotment of these genderized items to girls around this age may imply that—by adolescence—they had assumed a more 'adult' role and were thus granted the more 'adult' funerary items. For girls, the particular choice in Picene culture to place this age threshold during adolescence was perhaps connected to puberty, and the concurrent onset of a girl's reproductive faculties.
Male burials Male burials were far more likely to include either no funerary goods or only between 1 and 3 items, whereas female graves more likely to contain over 4 funerary objects. In terms of the goods themselves, male burials were usually associated with weapons, particularly arrowheads, axes, spear points, javelins, bronze and iron knives, and chariots. Spears were the most common type of weapon found at the site—out of a sample of 37 male burials in the cemetery, only 4 lacked a spear. The spear-types at Novilara are further subdivided according to blade-style: Older spears often contained a long narrow blade, whereas more recent spears were characterized by a broader leaf-shaped blade. Based upon the remains of the wooden spear-shafts, which were sometimes preserved within the end of the blade, it can be determined that these two components were fastened together with a bronze wire, and—in at least one instance—a bronze ring.
Daggers also appeared in multiple varieties: Some had a curved blade, others a triangular blade, and another type had a straight blade that tapered into a sharp point. The daggers were themselves probably holstered in the leather belts uncovered at the site, which were fastened with bronze buckles. Axes were possibly used as tools in human warfare, though they may have more so served as hunting tools, given that—in grave 43—the axe appears in tandem with spits and a flesh-hook. At Novilara, there appears one example of a bird-axe, which was suspended from a -type fibula. This type of axe is distinguished by a flaring blade, a distal knob, a shaft or handle of varying length and width, a raised band around the neck of the tool, and a depiction of water-bird. Compared to other Italian bird-axes, the Novilaran examples displays a less-detailed depiction of a bird and a smaller and less-intricate blade. In terms of gender, bird-axes are associated with male burials at other Italian archaeological sites such as the necropolis of Casa Nocera, yet they are perhaps a feminine item in other regions such as the .