4th c. B.C. grave slab with galloping rider found at illegal construction site

An emergency rescue excavation at a construction site in Cicirelli, near Padua, has unearthed 19 burials dating to the second half of the 4th century B.C., at least two of them warrior burials. A rare clay tile decorated with a figure of a man on horseback was found in one of the warrior graves, the figure engraved –it actually kind of looks like it was drawn with a fingertip — into the wet clay before the tile was fired.

The authorities intervened when illegal construction of a stable encountered ancient graves, causing severe damage to some of the burials. The Superintendent of Archeology Fine Arts and Landscape of Salerno and Avellino coordinated an emergency excavation to rescue the remains from the damaged graves and uncover any other archaeological remains at the site.

Most of the graves are of the “cappuccina” type, a rectangular grave lined with tegulae (terracotta roof tiles) and covered with the large tiles tilted against each other to form a gabled roof. The other graves were simple pits with the bodies placed directly on the soil and a large stone marker placed over their heads.

Some of them contain grave goods, including red-figure pottery and black-glazed ceramics. Both styles were produced locally in the Lucania region. The tombs, their distribution, style and contents suggest the burial ground may have been associated with a nearby settlement or large farm.

One of the most outstanding discoveries was tomb number 64, an “a cappuccina” burial containing a funerary assemblage composed of several black-glazed vases and an undecorated small pot. Inside the latter, archaeologists discovered a silver coin, a diobol minted in Tarentum between 380 and 325 BC, featuring the image of the goddess Athena on the obverse and the representation of Hercules strangling the Nemean lion on the reverse.

Moreover, one of the slabs covering the grave bore a rudimentary engraving made before its firing: the figure of a man on horseback. The animal is depicted in full gallop, while the rider wears a helmet and raises one arm as if to throw an object, possibly a spear. This detail suggests that the deceased was a warrior, someone of high status within his community.

In another of the burials, researchers found a grave assemblage consisting of numerous black-glazed and red-figure vases, including a krater, a type of vessel associated with symposium rituals, decorated with female images. Alongside the ceramic objects, they found an iron knife, a bronze belt that the deceased was wearing at the time of burial, several metal spits, two fire supports, and a lead candelabrum.

The belt suggests that the deceased was also a warrior, while the household utensils reinforce the idea of his prominent role within the domestic and social sphere.

* This article was originally published here