P20
The funerals: the inhumation tomb of the Bronze Age
The archaeologists date the passage from the inhumation rite to the incineration rite to the middle
Bronze Age (1650-1450 B.C). The new funerary rite consisted in the deposition of the ashes in
specific ceramic urns with other grave goods. The oldest graves of Alba are inhumations and they
go back to the half part of the Bronze Age (17th-16th century BC).
The Piave Street tomb dates back to the central part of the Bronze Age (1550-1400 BC) and it is
approximately contemporary with the oldest cremation graves: therefore, there have been a
coexistence of these funerary rites, a well-known phenomenon in the central east Padania.
The use of both rites in the early Bronze Age (1350-1200) is confirmed by an inhumation tomb
from Europa Street, dated back to 1400/1200 BC. The deceased was a 25-35 years old male adult
and has been buried curled up in a fetal position; in the space between the legs and the chest there
was an inverted bowl.
Offering pot from the inhumation tomb dated back to the Late Bronze Age