The Picenes in Matelica
The recent research carried out in Matelica’s territory by the Archaeological Heritage Office of Marches have led to the discovery of wide areas occupied in the past by settlements and necropolises, which are currently considered amongst the most considerable archaeological evidences in the whole Marches. The settlements date from the 8th century to the 6th century B.C. The results of the excavations, which interested vast areas, have enabled the archaeologist to unearth entire villages with a structure made up of huts and characterized by a rectangular shape with, sometimes, a curvilinear short size. The largest huts are over twenty metres in length and are bounded by holes and ditches, where wooden piles were set in order to support the walls and prop up the roof. The most important data, which allowed the scholars to reconstruct the culture of those people, come from the excavation of broad necropolises found near some ancient villages in Matelica’s territory. The most antique tombs, dating from the 9th century to the 8th century B.C., bound up with the first period of the Picene civilization, as it is testified either the funeral rituals, with the deceased placed in a simple grave and led on one of his side, or the funerary sets, made up of weapons and ornaments belonging to male and female figures respectively. The most sensational finds are represented by tombs going back to the 7th century B.C. which are distinguished by the presence of circular barrows and round graves. The burial area, delimited by a ditch, includes the sepulchre, a sumptuous funerary set, largely consisting of ornaments, and a hole containing chariots, bronze ware and earthenware, weapons, banquet and symposium utensils, noble metal objects, like golden and silver pieces, and other objects made of exotic material, such as ostrich eggshells, ivory and amber, which are all emblems of an aristocratic, refined, well-educated and rich society.