Aspetti rituali, sociali e paleodemografici di alcune necropoli protostoriche a cremazione dell’Italia Settentrionale

This study concerns five cremation cemeteries from Bronze Age (Middle, Recent and Final BA) to Early Iron Age (Villanovian culture) in Northern Italy (XVI-IX c. BC). 842 burials have been analyzed from Casinalbo (MBA-RBA), Montata (MBA-RBA), Scalvinetto (MBA-RBA), Narde (FBA), Brogo Panigale (EIA) in an anthropological point of view. Analysis on “cremains” are not so frequent, especially in the story of Italian anthropological studies, because of the fragmentation and transformation of bones, due to the pyre bruning. In consequence of a very large sample, many observations have been done, in terms of ritual practices, demographic structure, and social organization. Bones have been collected from the inside of the urns with a “stratigraphic” method (Casinalbo and Borgo Panigale), in order to recognize depoisitional sequences of anatomical parts. Observation on Minimum Number of Inividual, sex/age at death of the individuals, temperatures of cremation, fragmentation patterns, total weights, weights of skeletrical districts have been lead out. The funerary ritual shows a very articulated set of different actions and behaviours, each of them representing a specific simbolic meaning. It seems to develop from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age towards a progressively simplified ceremony. The composition of the cemetries in terms of sex/age class frequencies also changes through the time. In the Terramare culture (MBA-RBA) new-born infants or younger than 1-2 years old were not inlcuded in the burial area, and neither in Narde (FBA). They were not cremated but were buried elsewhere (sometimes in settlements), maybe because they were not completely integrated in the community. The younger infants seem to be re-included in the funerary space during the EIA. The percentage of 0-6 years old children, in fact, is douoble in Borgo Panigale compared to earlier cemeteries. Among the Villanovian cremation burials many 0-1 years old children were found: this evidence shows a different conception of social structure, which also include very young infants. A specific topographic distribution of burials has been observed in Casinalbo, where separated groups are clearly identifiable. The most logic intrpretation is that the groups represent families. In the groups it is possible to notice an inner separation between categories of individuals based on sex/age class. In the largest group (K), in which burials seems to be spread along a wide chronological range, the adult males occupy the center and the adult females and subadults the periphery. This could be interpreted as a strong intention of underline the adult males (warriors?) status and hegemony.