Buried and not cremated, investigation of the Etruscan necropolis of Tarquinia

A team of researchers from the University of Milan and Cambridge has given a new identity to 6i of the 20 skeletons found. Among them, a woman of Baltic origins.

MILAN – They were found buried within the city rather than in the necropolis, buried and not cremated. A team of researchers from the State University of Milan, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, has given a new identity to six of the twenty skeletons found in the Civita di Tarquinia area, whose characteristics differ greatly from the usual burials in necropolis . The Science@Tarquinia project – coordinated by Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, professor of etruscology at the University of Milan, director of research, and by Simon Stoddart, professor at the University of Cambridge – followed an innovative methodology that combines the humanistic tradition with analysis statistics typical of scientific research.
The study started from a series of questions: why were these individuals buried in a sacred area of the city, when cremation was the normal funerary practice in the necropolis? Why did all the skeletons share the same burial and commemoration practice? Were there other characteristics that they had in common? Did all these individuals come from Tarquinia? Were they local or foreign people? A series of interdisciplinary, archaeological and naturalistic research has been launched, put into dialogue with each other.

AMONG THE SKELETONS ALSO A WOMAN FROM THE BALTIC AREAS

It was possible to make use of a solid chronology (thanks to radiocarbon analysis integrated with archaeological investigation and Bayesian analysis) which allowed each of the skeletons studied to be linked to the phases of activity of the sacred area reconstructed by archaeologists over time and thus broaden its scope of meaning. Following this, a detailed osteological analysis, obtained through the tools of forensic science and paleopathology, revealed the state of health of the inhumed individuals and the presence of violence, clearly distinguishing them, also from this point of view, from the standard burials of the period. A great surprise also came from the analyzes of ancient DNA, preserved in five out of six cases, which revealed the presence of a female individual from the Baltic areas.

INDIVIDUALS TREATED DIFFERENTLY FROM THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY

It was confirmed that these individuals were treated in a special way, not only for burial practices, but also for biological reasons: they seem to have been visibly different from the rest of the community, if only regarding the circumstances of life and death and conservation of the body to perpetuate its memory.
“The exceptional nature of these burials and their memorability in the monumental complex contribute to qualifying them as individuals selected for the purpose of carrying out rituals aimed at consolidating the sense of belonging of the community – explain Bagnasco Gianni and Stoddart – Further research will try to discover whether these individuals share the same characteristics with the other skeletons buried in the monumental complex and to what extent they differ from the great majority of the community”.