Golasecca culture
The Golasecca culture developed in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (around 1300–800 BC) in the Padan plain, in the area of the northern Italian lakes and the canton of Ticino in Switzerland . The sites of Sesto Calende, Golasecca and Castelletto Ticino have been excavated most thoroughly. The eponymous place Golasecca is located in the province of Varese .
The area is bounded by the rivers Sesia in the west, Serio in the east, Po in the south and the Alps in the north. The culture existed parallel to the Hallstatt culture , alongside the Villanova culture in the Bologna area and the Este culture in the east of the Po Valley . Like the Estonian culture, it is seen as a mediator between the Mediterranean region and the cultures north of the Alps. Their first settlements emerged in the river valleys of the Alpine region. The most important branches were in the area around Como and on the banks of the Ticino (river) , e.g. B. in Castelletto sopra Ticino (in the province of Novara , in the immediate vicinity of the eponymous place). The culture produced the oldest written documents in a Celtic language ( Lepontic or Celtoligurian).
Numerous necropolises have been discovered in clusters of farms that later became community suburbs. The bodies were cremated. The ashes were in terracotta - urns , with bowls were covered up, buried. Depending on the rank of the deceased, more or less rich furnishings were added. Stone constructions were found on some graves.
In the Parco naturale dei Lagoni di Mercurago , founded in 1980 , the old Giovanni Siviglia Park on Lake Maggiore , you can see a replica of a tomb with stone circles .
predecessor
The first pile-dwelling settlement in Italy in Mercurago, discovered in 1860, was already in use from the late Bronze Age from the 18th to the 13th century BC In use and is a testament to the Canegrate culture , the forerunner of the Golasecca culture. Many objects made of wood, metal, ceramic and stone have been preserved in the peat at the bottom of the lake. Among the most famous are wooden wheels , which come in two types. One fits a heavy transport wagon , the second with spokes is associated with a light horse-drawn wagon .
literature
- Ludwig Pauli : The Golasecca culture and Central Europe. A contribution to the history of trade across the Alps (= Hamburg contributions to archeology. Volume 1, Issue 1). Buske, Hamburg 1971, ISBN 3-87118-085-8 .