Contribution
The space of man’s death. A modern age secondary burial case in northern Italy
Licata, Marta; Motto, Monica; Grassi, Barbara; Badino, Paola; Iorio, Silvia
HOMO Volume 70 No 2 (2019), p. 93 - 104
publié: Oct 24, 2019
publication en ligne: Aug 29, 2019
manuscrit accepté: Jun 4, 2019
révision final du manuscrit reçu: May 25, 2019
révision du manuscrit demandée: May 22, 2019
manuscrit reçu: May 4, 2018
ArtNo. ESP139007002000, Prix: 29.00 €
Abstract
Much of the recent archaeological and anthropological research on Italian modern age secondary burials has focused primarily on source analysis and the funerary context descriptions. To enable a clearer understanding of these atypical burials we need more archaeological data. To comprehend the mortuary practices it is necessary to investigate the surviving funeral monuments, burials and human remains. In fact, through the correct analysis of cultural material and human remains, it is possible to highlight the taphonomic changes of the corpse experiences during the entire ritual process. This will allow us to reconstruct the modality of body treatment in the funeral ritual. Now, we know partially the diffusion of the secondary burial ritual in southern Italy, but in northern Italy, it is lesser known. In this paper, we report the results of the archaeological and anthropological investigations conducted inside the Crypt of the Franciscan Monastery of Azzio (Varese, northern Italy). In the hypogeal funerary chamber, the corpses were temporarily deposed in seat-niches. This type of burial recalls the sitting colatois (masonry seat with a hole in the center), known in Naples as “cantarelle” and largely present in southern Italy. Throughout archaeological, anthropological and historical investigations, we tried to reconstruct the ritual adopted by the Friars and to better understand the ties with other northern and southern Italian testimonies. After our investigations, we received several notices of other similar funerary monuments in northern Italy that would be worth investigating.
Mots-clefs
modern age secondary burials • mortuary practices • body treatment • crypts • Azzio • northern Italy