28 February – “The Piazza d’Armi Necropolis: Presentation of Data from Recent Research”
National Archaeological Museum and Roman Theatre of Spoleto – Church of Sant’Agata
The conference will present the results of an extensive multidisciplinary study dedicated to the finds from the Piazza d’Armi necropolis in Spoleto. The research combined expertise in archaeology and biological anthropology, analysing materials recovered during the excavations—particularly archaeological, osteological, dental, and botanical remains—in order to reconstruct the history and characteristics of the population associated with this important site.
The research was funded by the PRIN 2022 PNRR project entitled “Powerful Women and Outstanding Children in Pre-Roman Umbria: Understanding Inclusive Societies with Foreign Peoples through an Integrative Approach of Molecular Anthropology, Archaeology, and Virtual Design”. The two-year project involved the National Archaeological Museum and Roman Theatre of Spoleto and three university departments: the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (Department of Biology), the University of Urbino Carlo Bo (Department of Humanities Studies. Languages, Literature, Cultural Heritage of the University of Tuscia in Viterbo (Department of Humanities), in collaboration with the University of Freiburg.
Thanks to this integrated approach, the project generated new data on the necropolis and provided deeper insights into its origins, its connections with other communities, and its social structure. The integration of archaeological evidence with molecular anthropology and skeletal biology has offered a richer and more nuanced understanding of one of the Iron Age populations of central Italy—until now among the least known—opening new perspectives and contributing to the enhancement of Umbrian archaeological heritage and to a more precise reconstruction of pre-Roman cultural dynamics.
