Necropolis (Taranto)

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Athletes grave in via Crispi (Taranto)

The necropolises that were discovered all over Taranto provided archaeologists with a wealth of information on society , culture , art and work of the ancient peoples in the Greco-Roman period.

description

The found remains bear witness to a pronounced cult of the dead : the deceased were either buried in a fetal position or cremated and the ashes kept in urns . Inside the grave, the deceased were given a so-called grave dowry (utensils, food, jewels), which were normally tied to the daily life of the individual; they wanted to imitate the house of the deceased. (Grave equipment can be viewed in the National Archaeological Museum )

In the necropolis of Taranto, different types of graves can be distinguished:

  • " Kammergräber " and "Halbkammergäber", which can be found for easy location at road crossings and were used by aristocratic families;
  • " Rock graves " that were closed with a boulder and used by plebeian families .

The 160 tombs can be found in seven different locations:

  • "Necropolis" in Via Marche,
  • "Chamber graves" in Via Umbria 136 and 162 from the 4th century BC BC, entrance from Via Sardegna: these are two side-by-side chamber tombs that were intended for the same family. Both tombs can be entered from the east from above through a step-like dromos . The Kline , which is supported by various cross beams, is located in both chambers on the front wall. The walls of the two cells are partly carved into the rock and partly built from rectangular blocks on which a meander is painted in red and light blue.
  • "Chamber grave" in Via Polibio 75 from the 4th century BC BC, accessible through a side entrance in Via Pio XII .: a nine-step dromos with plastered walls leads through a Doric door (originally probably two-winged) into a long rectangular vestibule, where four grave cells standing next to one another can be found.
  • "Half-chamber grave" in Via Alto Adige: This rectangular pit grave in the rock from the 4th century BC. In addition to the lower part of the walls, near the ground, it consists of plastered walls: so one can assume that the ground cover must have been raised and made of perishable materials. The picturesque wall decoration is limited to an uninterrupted red stripe on the upper edge.
  • " Hypogeum Genoviva" in Via Polibio 55: the grave chamber carved out of the bank in part may, through a small vestibule be entered. The top of the burial chamber is processed with a frame that has not been preserved. On the front wall above the red base and a light blue stripe you can clearly see the traces of an ornament made of garlands and ribbons. Two clinics have been preserved on the side walls.
  • " Athlete's grave " with seven sarcophagi : in the Scuola Media G. Mazzini in Via Francesco Crispi 2 there is a small square burial chamber that was used as a storage chamber for a long time. In the middle of this burial chamber is a resilient Doric column from archaic times, which had the task of supporting the heavy ceiling that was removed during the construction of the house above. On each side, the neatly distributed deceased rested in marble sarcophagi covered with double sloping coverings. The grave from the 6th - 5th century BC BC was originally an underground chamber and probably housed injured athletes from a Greek guild.

See also

literature

  • Pietro Massafra - Francesco Carrino - Il Centro Storico di Taranto: il Borgo - Scorpione Editrice - Taranto, 2004

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Il Centro Storico di Taranto: il Borgo , 2004, p. 80ff.

Coordinates: 40 ° 27 ′ 35 ″  N , 17 ° 15 ′ 15 ″  E