The Hellenistic necropolis of S. Antonio

The Hellenistic necropolis at S. Antonio
The necropolis in the S. Antonio area was excavated in 1986-1987 and consists of about 30 tombs mostly dating from the middle of the4th to the 3rd centuries BC, with the sole exception of the tomb from the archaic period; the necropolis extends just inside the city walls. The grave goods from some of these tombs are on display in the Museum.
Tomb 3, with a semi-chambered structure, is one of the largest (2.60 x 1.30 x 1.60 m deep). The grave goods (fig. 1) consist of five brown-painted ointment jars, one of which is large, a plate, an oil lamp, and a cup all made of grey paste, an achromatic olla with two handles, a digital iron ring set with a gemstone and another ring and some iron nails. Particularly interesting is the presence of the ring with an engraved gem representing a cornucopia, a jewel rarely found in Messapian burials and probably indicating the burial of a person belonging to a family of high social rank. The lack of excavation data and information on the state of preservation of the tomb at the time of its discovery does not allow us to hypothesise on the number of inhumations. However, the dimple on the base of the coffin in a central position, suggests the presence of reductions and therefore multiple uses of the tomb.
The nails found indicate the presence of a wooden structure (bed?) on which the deceased was laid. The number of burial objects found, perhaps too few for the size of the tomb, suggests that the burial had been disturbed and some of the material removed. As far as dating is concerned, given the lack of, chronological homogeneity of the preserved objects, it is possible that several burials took place between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the period to which grey-paste pottery belong. Furthermore, the two-handed achromatic olla, which finds comparisons with materials from the 1st century BC, the result of an additional burning during the last phase of the tomb.
Tomb 5, excavated in the rocky bank (2 x 0.80 x 0.85 m deep), with a dimple on the bottom possibly due to a reduction, yielded grave goods (fig. 2) consisting of a trozzella with phytomorphic decoration, a plate, and a small black painted lekythos, a statuette of a female figure on a throne, a curved iron fibula, a bronze nail, and five iron nails. From a chronological point of view, the objects found appear homogeneous and allow us to date the tomb between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. However, the lack of excavation data and analysis of the osteological finds does not allow us to determine the number of inhumations.
Tomb 7, also excavated in the rocky bank (2m x 0.90m x 0.80m deep), is characterised by the grave goods (fig. 3) consisting of a Messapian crater with banded and phytomorphic decoration, a banded lekane containing eggshells, a small black painted skyphos, a black painted oil lamp and two iron nails. In the absence of data from the excavation and osteological finds, the grave goods can hypothetically be attributed to a single deposition dating to the last quarter of the 4th to the early 3rd century BC. 
Tomb 11, also a pit grave (2.20 x 0.90 x 0.90 m deep), originally covered by a slab, plundered before the excavation, yielded only two miniature vases with brown paint and three fibulae, one in bronze and two in iron (fig. 4). The materials can be dated to the second half of the 4th century BC.
Tomb 15, dug into the rocky bank was larger (2.40 x 1.30 x 0.95 m deep) than the neighbouring burials, had a pit at the bottom measuring 1 x 0.60 x 0.40 m deep. The lack of excavation data and evidence for the presence of bone remains does not allow us to hypothesise about the number of inhumans and not even the few objects found provide any information in this regard (fig. 5). In fact, a basin, a plate and a miniature achromatic vase and a grey-paste oil lamp were recovered.
The pit in the centre of the coffin suggests that the tomb was reused of the tomb and the wide range of dates for the materials, which can be placed between the second half of the 4th and the 2nd century BC, leads to the same conclusion.
Tomb 16, also excavated in the rocky bank (2.20 x 0.90 x 0.95 m deep) and with a small pit at the bottom, was found already violated and contained an oinochoe with black varnish overpainted with white and yellow vegetal decoration, a black painted kantharos, an iron fibula and an iron ring (fig. 6). The materials recovered date from the end of the 4th to the second half of the 3rd century BC.
Tomb 17, also a pit grave (0.85 x 1.70 x 0.40 m deep), yielded a limited collection (fig. 7) that escaped illegal looting and consists of a podded skyphos with black overpaint, a double-handled grey-paste kantharos, an iron digital ring, with elliptical bezel and engraved gemstone, and three iron nails. Also in this case, as in Tomb 3, the presence of a ring (fig. 8) with a dark orange gemstone (carnelian?) stands out, bearing a partially chipped incision showing a fantastic animal with an upper part of the body and dolphin head (?). The few preserved materials of the grave goods only allow us to propose the presence of several burials that can be classified chronologically between the 3rd and 2nd centuries. BC.
Tomb 23, also dug into the rocky bank (2.40 x 1 x 1.20 m deep), was found violated. The artefacts recovered (fig. 9) consist of a lekanis with black paint, a trozzella with phytomorphic decoration, a skyphos and two black paint oil lamps, an oinochoe with black paint, two miniaturistic vases (one with black paint and the other with brown paint), a fibula and a ring, both iron made. The lack of information on the osteological finds prevents us from determining the number of burials and therefore from making hypotheses on the composition of the grave goods. The objects found can be placed in a fairly narrow chronological period, between the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC.
Tomb 24, also a pit grave (2.20 x 0.90 x 1.20 m deep), contains grave goods (fig. 10) including a black-painted oinochoe overpainted in white with swan and vegetal motifs, a large trozzella with phytomorphic decoration and trozze in relief (dancing maenad with thyrsus and an offering satyr on one side, and two satyrs, one offering and one playing, on the other), a lekythos and an oinochoe in black paint, a lekane with banded decoration, an achromatic single-handled echiniform cup, a two-handled miniature vase with brown paint, a black painted oil lamp, an achromatic oil lamp, two silver rings, a ring and 10 iron nails. The discovery of the latter indicates to the presence of a wooden structure (bed?) on which the deceased may have rested. The trozzella deserves special attention. Despite its morphological characteristics, which are reminiscent of specimens from the end of the 4th-3rd century BC, there are no precise comparisons in the known repertoire neither for the decorative motifs or for the medallions in relief on the trozze. The analysis of the grave goods suggests that the tomb contained a single inhumation, probably of a female individual judging by the presence of the trozzella, which chronologically dates between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC.