The Canegrate culture was a civilization of prehistoric Italy that developed from the late Bronze Age (13th century BC) until the Iron Age,[1] in the areas that are now western Lombardy, eastern Piedmont, and Ticino.[2][3] Canegrate had a cultural dynamic, as expressed in its pottery and bronzework, that was completely new to the area and was a typical example of the western Hallstatt culture.[4][5]
The name comes from the locality of Canegrate in Lombardy, south of Legnano and 25km north of Milan, where Guido Sutermeister discovered important archaeological finds (approximately 50 tombs with ceramics and metallic objects).[1] The site was first excavated in 1926 in the area of Rione Santa Colomba, and systematic excavation occurred between March 1953 and autumn 1956, which led to the discovery of a necropolis of 165 tomb.[6][7] It is one of the richer archeological sites of Northern Italy.[8]
The necropolis found in Canegrate is very similar to those realized in the same period in the north of Alps.[1] It represents the first migratory wave of the Urnfield culture[9] population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the Alpine passes, had already penetrated and settled in the western Po valley between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como (Scamozzina culture). They brought a new funerary practice—cremation—which supplanted inhumation.[10]
The facies of Canegrate introduces a new decorative style in ceramics that marks an almost total break with the previous Scamozzina culture; this style is linked to that of the north-western alpine area in the oldest phase of the Urnfield culture.[11] The uniform and isolated Canegrate finds[12] do not show any trace of the preceding Polada culture and provide no evidence for a gradual Canegrate insertion into the area.[13]
The bearers of the Canegrate culture maintained its homogeneity for only a century, and it then joined the Ligurian aboriginal populations; the union gave rise to the new Golasecca culture.[14][15]
The origins of the Orobii, a population localized by classical writers in these areas that founded the town of Como, have been linked to the Canegrate culture.
The necropolis
Diffusion of Canegrate culture
Since ancient times, the inhabitants of Olona Valley lived mainly away from the river, on higher ground that certainly would not have been affected by seasonal floods.[16] The most significant archaeological finds, from prehistory until Roman rule, have been discovered along the edges of the Olona Valley, and the necropolis connected to the culture of Canegrate was not an exception.[17][18]
The necropolis of Canegrate was brought to light in 1926 near the church of Santa Colomba.[3][1][19] The fact that the finds did not belong to any other proto-historic culture was identified later.[1] In 1953, other finds were found on the same land during the construction of a house; in 1956 the findings took place within the perimeter of the "Giuseppe Gajo" kindergarten, which is seven hundred meters south of the church of Santa Colomba.[3][1][19] The first archaeological activities were directed by Guido Sutermeister, while those carried out in the 1950s were supervised by Ferrante Rittatore Vonwiller.[1] The excavations were systematic between the spring of 1953 and the autumn of 1956.[20]
Metal artefacts
The tombs found are of the simple pit type or covered with stone or stone slabs.[6][21] Most of the urns do not have a lid. Some are closed by a small stone slab, while others are turned upside down in the ground.[21] The urns often also contain the ashes of several people.[21] The bronze furnishings deposited with the ashes (collars, pins and rings[6]) are not gifts to the deceased, but objects belonging to the same.[21] The finds, in fact, have been transformed by the heat of the fire during the cremation.[21] Not many weapons have been found. In the entire necropolis of Canegrate, only four swords have been discovered.[6] The study of the findings revealed that about 30% of the graves received ashes from adolescents or children.[6]
It is estimated that the necropolis should originally contain about 200 tombs, 165 of which were brought to light.[6] The burials that were not brought to light were destroyed during the aforementioned building works.[6] These works were stopped after verifying the importance of the finds, and this allowed the patrol of the entire area.[22]
Given the abundance of findings, it was possible to identify the general cultural and social aspects of the populations that belonged to this prehistoric civilization.[6] From the findings discovered in Canegrate, it can be inferred that the populations that lived there led a rather harsh existence and had a decidedly short average life.[6] Furthermore, the rate of infant deaths was decidedly high.[6] A certain respect for the dead can also be deduced from the rich funerary outfit.[6] Most likely the village where the community that built the two necropolises lived was not far from the find.[23] The presence of two rather close necropolises and the discovery of similar discoveries in the area, could suggest the presence of several villages at a relatively short distance.[24] Remains of dwellings of populations belonging to the culture the Canegrates were discovered in Gabinella in Legnano. During the excavations, which took place in the mid-1980s, furnishings from the late Bronze Age (mostly vessel fragments) were also brought to light.[25]
The most novelty element is precisely the ceramics which, although it has some point of contact with the previous Scamozzina culture, on the whole is clearly differentiated by connecting directly with the Urnfield culture and, in particular, to the groups of the Rhine-Switzerland-Eastern France area.[11] The contribution of the culture of the urn fields is particularly emphasized by the shape and decorations of the urns, as well as by the composition of the alloy in the bronzes of the funeral objects.
Finds of Canegrate culture from Santa Colomba, Canegrate (1953)
Olla in clay with embossed decoration found at the Santa Colomba, Canegrate, in 1926
↑ Tosi, Stefano. Da Milano alla Barona. Storia, luoghi e persone di questa terra. Lulu.com. p.21.
↑ Maps of the Golasecca culture. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ G. Frigerio, Il territorio comasco dall'età della pietra alla fine dell'età del bronzo, in Como nell'antichità, Società Archeologica Comense, Como 1987.
Kruta, Venceslas: La grande storia dei celti. La nascita, l'affermazione e la decadenza, Newton & Compton, 2003, ISBN88-8289-851-2, ISBN978-88-8289-851-9
The Lepontii were an ancient Celtic people occupying portions of Rhaetia in the Alps during the late Bronze Age/Iron Age. Recent archeological excavations and their association with the Golasecca culture and Canegrate culture point to a Celtic affiliation. From the analysis of their language and the place names of the old Lepontic areas, it was hypothesized that these people represent a layer similar to that Celtic but previous to the Gallic penetration in the Po valley. The suggestion has been made that the Lepontii may have been celticized Ligurians.
Cisalpine Gaul was the name given, especially during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, to a region of land inhabited by Celts (Gauls), corresponding to what is now most of northern Italy.
The Ligures or Ligurians were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named.
Lepontic is an ancient Alpine Celtic language that was spoken in parts of Rhaetia and Cisalpine Gaul between 550 and 100 BC. Lepontic is attested in inscriptions found in an area centered on Lugano, Switzerland, and including the Lake Como and Lake Maggiore areas of Italy. Being a Celtic language, its name could derive from Proto-Celtic *leikwontio-.
The battle of Legnano was a battle between the imperial army of Frederick Barbarossa and the troops of the Lombard League on May 29, 1176, near the town of Legnano, in present-day Lombardy, Italy. Although the presence of the enemy nearby was already known to both sides, they suddenly met without having time to plan any strategy.
The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Bell Beaker and Urnfield culture groups north and east of the Alps brought this group to Italy in the 2nd millennium BC.
The Golasecca culture was a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age culture in northern Italy, whose type-site was excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy, where, in the area of Monsorino at the beginning of the 19th century, Abbot Giovanni Battista Giani made the first findings of about fifty graves with pottery and metal objects.
Alberto da Giussano is a legendary character of the 12th century who would have participated, as a protagonist, in the battle of Legnano on 29 May 1176. In reality, according to historians, the actual military leader of the Lombard League in the famous military battle with Frederick Barbarossa was Guido da Landriano. Historical analyses made over time have indeed shown that the figure of Alberto da Giussano never existed.
San Giorgio su Legnano is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Milan.
The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian and Celtic population with Gaulish tribes.
The Olona is an Italian river belonging to the Po Basin, 71 kilometres (44 mi) long, that runs through the Province of Varese and Metropolitan City of Milan whose course is developed entirely in Lombardy.
The prehistory of Italy began in the Paleolithic period, when species of Homo inhabited the Italian territory for the first time, and ended in the Iron Age, when the first written records appeared in Italy.
The Carni were a tribe of the Eastern Alps in classical antiquity of Celtic language and culture, settling in the mountains separating Noricum and Venetia. They probably gave their name to Carso, Carnia, Carinthia, and Carniola.
The Este culture or Atestine culture was an archaeological culture existing from the late Italian Bronze Age to the Iron Age and Roman period. It was located in the modern area of Veneto in Italy and derived from the earlier and more extensive Proto-Villanovan culture. It is also called the "civilization of situlas", or Paleo-Venetic.
The Scamozzina culture, which takes its name from the necropolis found in Cascina Scamozzina of Albairate, was a prehistoric civilization of Italy that developed between the end of the middle Bronze Age and the beginning of the late Bronze Age, in western Lombardy and Piedmont.
Guido Sutermeister was an Italian engineer and archaeologist.
Palazzo Leone da Perego is a historical building in Legnano. It was rebuilt in 1898 preserving some decorations of the previous medieval building of the same name. Located a few steps from the Basilica di San Magno, it has two entrances, one in via Magenta and the other in via Girardelli. It is named after Leone da Perego, archbishop of Milan who died in Legnano in 1257. Together with Palazzo Visconti it forms the "Corte Arcivescovile".
The earliest documented trace of the history of San Giorgio su Legnano, a municipality in the province of Milan in the Altomilanese, refers to an inscription engraved on some bricks dated 1393 where the word "Sotena," which is believed to be the original name of the San Giorgio community, is engraved. These bricks were found during some excavations carried out near the Church of the Most Holy Crucifix in 1769. The oldest archaeological evidence found in the territory of San Giorgio su Legnano, on the other hand, consists of Roman necropolises, the dating of which corresponds to the Imperial Age.
The Ca' Morta tomb is a Celtic chariot tomb located in the necropolis of the same name to the west of the city of Como, in Italy's Lombardy region. The burial chamber, covered by a tumulus, contains the ashes of a woman of princely status, accompanied by furnishings. Thanks to the exceptional quality of the objects unearthed, this tomb is a precious testimony to Celtic culture at the time, particularly in terms of craft techniques, intra-European trade and the role of women in society.
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