Biconical vase and “old lace” at Narce. New data from the necropolis of la Petrina - tomb C1 (LXII)

Published in Origini n. XL/2017. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations | This paper presents the rediscovery of traces of linen “lace” wrapping a peculiar “biconical” vase, which was found in 1890 at Narce in the so-called Tomb of the Shields - tomb C1 (LXII) - in the necropolis of La Petrina, and dates to the end of the 7th century BC. The presence of textiles on this very peculiar “biconical” vase was mentioned in the first publication of this tomb group in 1894 but, despite the numerous studies that took into account this vase and its history in literature, this detail has never been fully investigated. The “old lace” testifies to the ritual value of the “biconical” vase within its tomb group, and seems to recall symbolically the longue durée tradition of dressing the cinerary urns, which at Narce began during the 8th century BC, but continued also into the Orientalising period, especially for the burials of the elite. Furthermore, this new evidence confirms the high ideological value of the uppermost area of the necropolis of La Petrina, where the local community expresses, through different rituals, its identity.