From marls to "terremare". Etymological and "stratigraphic" analysis of a debated term

Abstract

Since the last decades of XIX century, the term “terramare” denotes the Bronze Age settlement in the central Po plain and in recent scientific works it has been used as representative word to indicate the whole civilization of Middle and Recent Bronze Age. When Pigorini and Strobel in 1862 introduced this term they referred to the organic soil exploited as fertilizer connected to the marl well known in other european countries. This paper deals with the etymology of the term and, recovering old hypothesis advanced in early twentieth century, it suggests a different interpretation of his origin. Following the fortune of the term among all the scholars of the successful phase of research in XIX century, the papers concludes with a proposal of a well studied opportunity chosen by Luigi Pigorini to take advantage with a word new and pivot, but at the same time tied to solid and old roots.