Santa Maria di Zevio is a small hamlet near Verona where over a hundred cremation graves have been found, dating from the 2nd century BC to the early Imperial age.
See my replicas of 7 knives from the necropolis of Santa Maria di Zevio
Its scientific value is undoubtedly of the greatest significance, because it is an exemplary case of the progressive integration of a Cenomani community (as the inscriptions would seem to indicate) into the Roman world. It is a result of great importance, because the accuracy of the excavation, documented in exemplary fashion with surveys of every single grave, will also allow wide-ranging interpretative research in the future, including anthropological and sociological analysis.
Excavation chronology
1986: grave goods were recovered from graves destroyed during building works at the Fenil Nuovo farmstead.
1987: archaeological test pits were dug at the same site.
1988: a rescue excavation was carried out in the necropolis at the Mirandola site. Excavation of this necropolis continued in 1991 and 1992.
1993: a Roman necropolis was excavated in Via Matteotti, and excavation began on a Roman settlement near the Mulino Rizzardi.
1994: excavation of the Roman settlement was completed.
1996: a necropolis was excavated at the Rivalunga site.
The various discoveries received some coverage in the local press, and some of the material was exhibited in 1987 in Verona in the exhibition “Prima della storia” and in 1992 in Verona, Zevio and Caldiero in the exhibition “Fabbri, guerrieri, vasai”.
The Fenil Nuovo necropolis
Of the three graves partially destroyed by the construction of a cowshed, only a tiny part of the grave goods was recovered, handed over all mixed together, since all three graves had already been robbed and emptied.
The Mirandola necropolis
Made up of 171 graves, although some were partially damaged by farming, it yielded a remarkable quantity of finds that can be divided chronologically into 5 distinct phases:
I: late La Tène C2
II: La Tène D1
III: La Tène D2
IV: Augustan age
V: early medieval period
The graves are mainly cremations, with a pit structure for 120 graves and a box of roof tiles for the rest. The arrangement of the material inside the grave follows fairly constant criteria throughout the various phases: the burnt bones are gathered at the centre or near the edge of the grave in one or more heaps, laid together with coins, brooches and other ornaments, sometimes deformed by the funeral pyre of the deceased. The weapons, tools and pottery are placed near the bones. There does not seem to be any constant, codified rule in the arrangement of these items inside the grave. In distinguishing male from female graves, it was decided not to take into account the results of the anthropological analyses, which proved unsatisfactory and very often contradictory; instead, the indications provided by the grave goods were used. It is interesting to look at the panoply of the warrior burials, identified in the first three phases of the necropolis. During Phase I the presence of warriors is considerable: 17 graves out of 33. The panoply is of the complex type, with sword, spear, shield boss, knife, chain (graves 92, 43) or hook (graves 88, 130). Graves 86, 90C, 104, 106 and 131 should also be assigned to this type of panoply, with sword, spear, shield boss and knife but no chain or hook, as should grave 90A, which also lacks the knife, and grave 149, which also lacks the sword. Another type of panoply comprises spear and knife (graves 67, 108). Finally, graves 118 and 132 contain only the spear. The presence of the chain alone in grave 90B, and of the knife and chain in grave 93, which clearly refer to weaponry including a sword, can be interpreted in the light of that peculiar Celtic funerary custom known as “pars pro toto”. In Phase II there are 6 warrior graves out of a total of 25. Four graves have a complex panoply, with sword, spear, shield boss and knife (graves 6, 48, 135, 137), and two have a light panoply, with spear and knife (graves 2, 35). In Phase III there are 8 warrior graves out of a total of 27. All of them have a light panoply, with spear and knife (graves 4, 54, 58, 80, 95, 134, 143), except one that has a javelin head (grave 10). Almost all the weapons are bent, deformed or broken, according to a rite that was widespread above all during the advanced phase of Middle La Tène. Among the items constantly present in female grave goods are brooches and the knife. It has already been observed that the knife cannot be considered a priori a combat weapon, but may have had a role in preparing the meat for the banquet. This is confirmed by its presence in female grave goods, where the knives are almost always of a different type and smaller than those found in warrior graves. Another feature found fairly frequently in female grave goods is a pair of bronze brooches of the same type. The female grave goods of grave 123 include a small sickle, which is also documented in male grave goods (graves 90c, 106, 108, 131) and in grave goods that cannot be more precisely identified (graves 18, 45, 53, 89, 91, 127). The female grave goods of grave 105 include a pair of shears together with a knife; in the grave goods of grave 23 the shears are found with a spit; other shears are found in the grave goods of graves 17, 26 and 56. Another spit is present in the female grave goods of grave 142. The female grave goods of grave 24 include toilet implements and a ring hook, commonly used on the sword belt but also found in female burials. Among the other tools worth mentioning are the razor, in the male grave goods of grave 118, and the hatchet in the male grave goods of grave 153. The fork-shaped object from grave 48 has parallels in examples from Valeggio sul Mincio and Gambolò-Belcreda. It should probably be interpreted as a candelabrum fixed onto a wooden support, which has precedents in grave 52 of the Certosa and at Monte Bibele. Finally, there are some unusual items: an Early Iron Age leech brooch in grave 90c, a 5th-century BC lead spindle whorl in grave 124 and a flint arrowhead in grave 122. These are objects from earlier periods, recovered and reused. A similar lead spindle whorl exists in grave 21 at Valeggio sul Mincio, where it lies in the hand of the deceased, a position in which coins are very often placed. So, for the spindle whorl and for the brooch too, the meaning of aes rude may be proposed; for the arrowhead, on the other hand, the meaning of an amulet is very likely. The pottery in the grave goods mostly represents the table service, with a variable combination of open vessel forms, closed vessel forms and beakers. Flask-shaped vessels, which may perhaps be interpreted as balsamaria, are very common, while oil lamps are rare. Only one pottery vessel shows signs of having been on the pyre (grave 98,3); other vessels are deformed, probably because of imperfect firing (graves 108,1; 129,2b). Bronze vessels are represented only by the remains of a flask (grave 32).