Archaeological Museum of Bologna

In his investigations of the Certosa necropolis, Antonio Zannoni applied a method that was quite innovative for the time, involving the collection and meticulous recording of all data that emerged from the excavations. One groundbreaking idea was to “tear” several tombs entirely from their site and exhibit them at the Museum in special cases for the first inauguration in 1871.

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Zannoni’s intention was to show the public what the graves looked like and how the Funerary equipment were arranged by the body or the ashes of the deceased. Consequently, both interments and incinerations were taken up for exhibition. Here the incineration tomb comprised a pit lined with pebbles, containing a red-figure Attic krater used as a cinerary urn, a black-figure mastoid and an Ionian amphora.

Provenance: Bologna, Certosa necropolis, tomb 174
Datation: First quarter of the 5th century BC