Lapis longus
Protected by a glass case, the Lapis Longus ( German “long stone” ) is a stele made of gneiss at the Lungo Piazza d'Armi in Chivasso in the metropolitan city of Turin in Piedmont in Italy .
The stele is about four meters high and weighs one and a half tons. Large round incisions filled with lead, which come from the attachment of the chains of the stone used as a pillory , are reminiscent of similar finds in Mazzè and Lugnacco , which underlines the spread of this type of stele in the Canavee area. Compare with steles of the 7th – 6th centuries. Century BC BC, in particular with the stele of the Golasecca culture from Castelletto sopra Ticino , have been made.
In 1499, the stone found near the Church of St. Michael was turned into a pillory to punish insolvent debtors and placed in the middle of the palace square. This news was provided by B. Siccardi in 1533 with the issuance of a collection of legislation by the municipality of Chivasso. The circumstances of the original discovery of the stele, which was considered a boundary stone between Piedmont and Lombardy , suggest that a memory of the discovery existed outside the city of Kreis. After the middle of the 17th century, with the renovation of the square, the pillory was given its new place on the walls on the western side. With the arrival of the French and revolutionary ideas in 1798, the stone was removed as a symbol of the past government. At the beginning of the 20th century, the stele was transformed into a park bench.
The local historian Luciano Dell'Olmo recognized the importance of the find and pointed this out to the superintendent, who, after determining the archaeological interest, arranged for the stone to be restored.
Various elements allow the Chivasso stele to be dated to the 7th to 6th centuries BC. Chr. To.
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Coordinates: 45 ° 11 '23.4 " N , 7 ° 53' 9.7" E