Funerary customs of Golasecca Culture

Abstract

Both M. Primas in 1970 and the Author in 1988 argued that within the Golasecca culture three cultural facies were recognizable: Como, Golasecca, Sopraceneri including Mesolcina. On the basis of the available data then it could be said that in the first two facies the exclusive funerary rite was cremation, while to the north of the Monte Ceneri gradually passed from cremation to biritualism and finally to inhumation as an exclusive funeral rite. Recently the thesis was presented that in the Golasecca facies also inhumation tombs were present. According to Gambari, two pit tombs of the necropolis of Pombia, the t. 12/1995 and the t. 15/1995, would be interpreted as childhood or adolescence inhumation graves. In the complete absence of skeletal remains, the hypothesis was formulated solely on the basis of the pit size, which was not exceptional. According to Grassi and Mangani four pit tombs of the necropolis of Monsorino di Golasecca would always be inhumations exclusively on the basis of the pit size. The Author rejects these interpretations as unfounded. First of all, in the absence of skeletal remains due to the strong acidity of the soil, two hypotheses can be taken into consideration: the inhumation or the rite of spreading the burnt bones on the bottom of the tomb. The analysis of the grave goods indicates as likely the second hypothesis. For example in the tomb 12/1995 there is a fragment of a broken and bent pin. De-functionalization in accordance with ritual norms is characteristic of cremation tombs. In the necropolis of Pombia two tombs, the 4/1995 and the 7/1995, have a size comparable to those considered to be inhumations, but burnt bones were discovered in them, thus confirming the ritual of spreading the ashes on the bottom of the tomb. In the tomb 39 of Monsorino a beaker with a globular body and distinct neck has the ribbon handle removed with a clean cut both to the upper and lower attachment, according to a ritual norm typical of the Golasecca culture when a pot is used as a container for the burnt bones, also in the same grave the metal objects have been discovered towards one end of the pit, but if it were an inhumation tomb the bronze belt-plate should be in the center of the pit. Grassi, Mangani and Voltolini argue that the grave of the Tripod from Sesto Calende-Bellaria would have been an inhumation burial, relying on the position of the objects, moreover they believe that the tomb would have had a bottom entirely covered with wooden planks and also a covering of wooden planks and it would never have been subject to violation with removal of the slab cover and part of the grave-goods. The author presents the excavation data, some of which are still unpublished, which clearly demonstrate the violation of the tomb and the unreliability of the reconstruction proposed by Grassi, Mangani and Voltolini. Since no rest of the skeleton has been preserved, one must think of its complete dissolution due to the nature of the soil, too acidic, but this fact is denied by the preservation of animal bones in one of the cups. Furthermore, in the NE corner of the tomb the body of a small leech fibula was found, devoid of spring, and catch-plate, all deformed by thermal effect, evidently coming from the funerary pyre. The arrangement of the materials is incompatible with the hypothesis of an inhumation, in particular an iron spit was found mixed with the chains of the long pendant / breastplate. Grassi, Mangani and Voltolini believe that the incontrovertible proof of the existence of inhumation burials in the facies of Golasecca and Como are two tombs from the small necropolis of Urago d’Oglio, dated to the second half of the fifth century and attributed to the Golasecca culture. This thesis is the result of a series of macroscopic typological classification, dating and cultural background mistakes. In fact, four cremation graves can be dated to the end of the sixth century, while two inhumations date back to the La Tène B (fourth century BC) and must be attributed to the Cisalpine Gauls.