P19
The Intermediate Bronze Age tomb from Piave Road 199
The tomb consisted in a pit that contained a male body on its back. The deceased – deposited into a
trunk or in a narrow wooden casket – has the skull reclined on the shoulder, the right arm stretched
on the hip, the parallel legs.
The anthropologic analysis indicates a tall stature (170-175 cm), a robust build and an important
musculature; the analysis of the micro-damages of the teeth suggests a nourishment based on not
particularly abrasive foods, with many carbohydrates.
A cloak covered the deceased ant its bronze pin stopped it on the shoulders. Other similar pins have
been found only in Germany to the present day. There was a small cup containing beer or mead in
proximity of the feet. The finding of the pots related to the banquets or symposium (lavers, cups,
colanders or situla) is common in the contexts dated back to the Intermediate Bronze Age. They
probably constitute a symbol of the importance of these social moments, of which the banquet and
the communitarian drink underline power relations and personal prestige.
Bronze pin and carinate cup from the tomb 2 (Archaeological Museum of Turin)