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Fashion, belts & archaeometry:
preliminary results of the ANR Itineris project

by

Introduction & background

The Early Iron Age – especially the Hallstatt D period – in West Europe as well as in North Italy is marked by a strong phenomenon: the rise of an elaborate and dynamic system of long-distance connections reflected in material cultures, social practices and mainly in the dissemination of foreign finds1. This event occurs closely linked with the growth of Mediterranean, Greek and Etruscan trade in Europe as illustrated by the dissemination of their production across the European boundaries2. Because of the unusual nature of imported artefacts found in Europe since the end of the 19th century, Iron Age scholars have long time been embedded in a “Mediterranean imports’ paradigm”, while identifying human and material culture mobility only by tracking specific and easily-recognizable signs of distinction: elites, sites and imported luxuries/valued artefacts, or unusually finely-crafted products from the Mediterranean or Etruscan worlds3.

Against this background, understanding how ancient communities have interacted with each other, and why they have developed these bonds across Europe during the first millennium BC is a major challenge in the archaeology of non-literate societies today. While the connection between Europe and Mediterranean regions was demonstrated since the discovery of the first southern imports, the nature of these contacts and networks is still poorly understood and many aspects of such patterns of social and cultural interactions have not yet been deeply investigated and/or modelled. Moreover, navigating archaeological and social issues of this kind brings us to deal with a broader range of objects, features and social practices, which are often not easy to analyse and distinguish from each other, due to their heterogeneous values and qualities. Among the wide variety of objects found far from their places of origin, the exotic goods and magnificent artefacts are more easily recognisable and for this reason they are most commonly used for tracking and studying ancient mobility of non-literate societies.

However, this perception of the society hides a more complex reality, keeping ordinary people such as traders, working classes and their productions/activities out of the picture, despite their deep involvement in the organisation and maintenance of trade and daily activities4. As illustrated by recent research in Northern Italy and France, the archaeology of interactions shall not be solely focused on a single class of objects, a single social class, or even a single cultural area, notwithstanding how rich may that be5.

Current Protohistoric studies try to gradually overcome such traditional assumptions and to reveal new scenarios of daily life of past people, by looking beyond the mere objects’ dissemination or their typological features6. More attention is now paid to the comparative and contextual analysis of artefacts’ dissemination and agency as key to a better knowledge of elites and social practices7. The interaction between makers, users or consumers and the material world and culture are also now understood to be key to explain the creation, maintenance and negotiation of social distinctions into a dynamic community network8. This approach brings us to question how material culture was created, used, appropriated and (re)-contextualized in different cultural groups/areas and how it might reveal the nature of past social relationships9. However, even within this renewed approach to material culture, the research is still focused on investigating the behaviours of consumer and/or user rather than on the producer’s activities and their interaction with the other social classes.

To overcome these imbalances, attention is here paid to daily objects (ornaments), their makers and dissemination patterns, adopting a strong continental and technological perspective. Thus, the characterization of Nord-italic bronze metalwork, a topic still poorly known, is the paradigm chosen to structure the investigation of cultural interactions and build a multilevel model of the Protohistoric trade in the early Iron Age. The study of daily objects, features and technical traits, from both empirical and social perspectives, would lead us to a contextualised understanding of artisanal, economic and cultural practices within a broader narrative about life-styles and (trans)-actions of European Iron age communities. Combining different methodological approaches used in the humanities, physics, chemistry and computational sciences, this project shifts the traditional paradigm pointing out the definition of metalwork traditions as a new key to a critical review of cultural interactions, emphasizing the role of artisans in Protohistoric transfers and their involvement in the process of cultural identity formation. The main objective is to characterise the craft techniques – chaîne opératoire – specific to each community settled in northern Italy, to identify the sources of supply and to analyse the transmission or transformation of this know-how on different spatial and temporal scales in order to provide a dynamic reconstruction of the techno-economic and cultural networks between ancient societies.

From material culture to social practices through metal crafting: moving to new paradigms

New archaeological data and the re-examination of acquired records and museum collections highlight the diversity of social actors and products involved in all stages of the interactions processes, especially artisans10. Their role is not only to provide the required productions in response to specific social needs, but also to dynamically participate into the cultural and aesthetic processes of community self-representation, as well as in its economic, technological and political spread11. Indeed, in the process of interaction with the material world, people constantly renegotiate and dynamically (re)-create their identities behaviours and practices12. In this framework, thanks to the gradually overcoming of the colonialist paradigm, protohistoric scholars are starting to upgrade indigenous abilities in crafting and trading, focusing more on local productions, contexts and their complex relationship with foreign material culture13. One of the most important outcomes from this approach is a better visibility granted to artisans as well as the development of new approaches to explore the multiple activities and identities played by craftsmen over time. Furthermore, focusing on daily ornament crafting and wearing lead us to discover more closely the everyday life and fashion of ancient communities, especially the work and social organisation of the craftsmen’s communities and, in general, their interaction at different levels with the consumers, including elites14. Despite this new research impulse, French and especially Italian archaeological studies have focused on iron, gold, silver or potter crafting techniques, workshops and supply sites rather than on alloy copper crafting, despite bronze ornaments being the most common find in Protohistoric settlements, graves or hoards. In fact, due to the difficulty in identifying the workshop’s place and features as well as the lack of specific metal craftsmen’s graves, the bronziers artisans are still an anonymous part of the society, poorly investigated and seldom recognised15. Even if only the tools, the production waste, the half-finished/finished products prove the presence and the activity of bronze craftsmen, though the detailed analysis of their productions, chemical composition, context and spatial position craft activity can be extensively evaluated16.

What now?

Considering these approaches, why choosing a continental perspective and Italic bronze crafting activity to understand social interactions? A comprehensive investigation into the specific research field has yet to be conducted, despite its significant potential to transform our understanding of Protohistoric trade and technological knowledge flows. In fact, no extensive technological or contextual studies have been carried out on this crucial aspect of Protohistoric studies, and yet a bronze waste fragment is not only a fragment, an object is more than a typological marker, and a bronze ornament is much more than a simple artefact…

Previous research has focused on the daily North-Italic ornaments and their spread in the Celtic and Italic worlds17. Indeed, among archaeological remains, ornaments show a larger morphological and stylistic variability. These features allow us to draw a clear distinction between different cultural areas of production and consumption, and help to evaluate the implication of foreign goods into the growth of upper classes18. Thus, ornaments are clearly the best cultural markers to use for this purpose. As previously highlighted, the striking parallels observed in the morphological and stylistic characteristics of Golasecca-type ornaments, manifesting in both Italic and Celtic archaeological contexts, indicate a direct involvement of North Italic artisans and/or tradesmen in medium and long-distance European commercial networks19. Furthermore, a critical review of the Golasecca items spread into the Celtic world also demonstrated the existence of a complex network composed by several sub-networks closely interconnected, able to improve the development of new sites and trade-ways and acting at different levels of the society20. As an actor of a largest long-distance network, the Golasecca culture also contributes to the rise of new artisanal settlements (e.g. Bragny-sur-Saône, France, or Villa del Foro and San Polo d’Enza, Northern Italy)21 or neighbourhoods located near or inside the major Early Iron Age cities (e.g. Bourges Port-Sec or, Vix in France)22. These settlements, founded at important crossroads of Protohistoric way-trade, are also characterised by an intense mobility and similar craft activity; in this framework, a mixed population seems clearly outlined by the presence of local and foreign elements and mainly by the coexistence of female and male North-Italic ornaments, suggesting a more varied implication of both social classes and even a more active role of women, probably to be linked to coral, textile and metal trade, as it has already suggested23. However, even if typological and contextual analyses are useful to distinguish south from north-alpine models, or mimicraft phenomena, this approach still failed to fully provide how such models had been produced, used and/or re-adapted to the local culture.

Making Italic fashion: new approaches of the Itineris project

The Itineris project promotes ad comprehensive methodological review of acquired, unpublished and new records, combining archaeological approach with technological, archaeometric and geo-statistical analysis. The extensive and comparative study of the types, techniques, styles and materials will be able to properly identify the Italic metal craftsmen’s profiles, capacities and abilities. Adopting this characterization will facilitate the identification of distinct operating workshops and the exploration of their interactions. This will also enable the clarification of the impact of their dissemination on Northern Italy and, on a larger scale, Western Europe. The major goal is to produce operational distinctions between local productions, imports, imitations and local transformations, which will be interoperable within a broader analytic framework or on different artefacts/techniques types. Focusing also on craft techniques networks and knowledge flows modelling, this approach sets out to explore the ways in which technologies, traditions and fashion behaviour are transmitted over wide areas and across cultural boundaries, revealing new scenarios and social models. Ultimately, codifying the social organization of Celtic communities through the technological qualification of the North-Italic products is a promising interpretative key that would advance a new perception of social interactions during the Early Iron Age.

To achieve these objectives, the project involves a Franco-Italian team made up of 16 members from two research laboratories and three Italian university departments, as well as three archaeological museums partners of the project: the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Musei Reali of Turin and the Civic Museum Mueo Gaetano Chierici, in Reggio Emilia24.

Following a cross-disciplinary dynamics, the project is organised in three specific work-packages to produce a systematic investigation of Protohistoric metal crafting, enabling us to reconstruct the entire operational chain, from the supply of raw materials and the shaping of objects (WP1), through to their circulation in Italy and then Europe, using an interdisciplinary approach that combines traditional archaeological studies with archaeometric and technological analyses (WP1 & WP2) and the digital and geostatistical development of the data (WP3).

The archaeometric approach promotes an extensive chemical and physical analysis performed in a complementary way by both French and Italian laboratories. To ensure the strong statistical quality of the analysis, the investigation is being applied to objects equally distributed between the French and Italian Museums and belonging to the same typological and chronological classes, as well as the same archaeological context. Pooling different but complementary analysis techniques (elemental, isotopic, metallographic and metallorganic analysis) will help us to solve the current impasse in our understanding of the all stages of the bronze crafting process from the creation to the dissemination of finished artefacts. It also allows to compare the results from two separate laboratories, C2RMF and Geosciences department of Padua, thus improving the elaboration of innovative and adapted protocols potentially useful and reusable for future and extensive archaeometric analysis campaigns.

Archaeological and technological studies take into consideration all stages of the surface and internal structure investigation to provide a complete archaeological and technological screening. Thus, to elaborate an exhaustive dataset, 1200 objects are e carefully studied and recorded in the project database, combining typological, quantitative and metric approaches. From a technological point of view, the morpho-stylistic features are noted using specific nomad equipment and Digital analysis like 3D laser scanning, RTI & photogrammetry and Digital microscope imagery in addition to the traditional recording techniques. This step also involves X-radiography techniques on a selected set of ornaments from French and Italian museums carried out in synergy by both Italian and French Laboratories, to obtain a complete and detailed overview of internal patterns and features of the bronze ornaments and a better understanding of the casting techniques used to create, model and decorate these artefacts, by a fully internal and non-invasive observation.

Finally, the WP3 is focused on data management and data modelling to build a multilevel model of the metal handcraft organisation from the objects and/or craft techniques level, to the socio-economic networks level, in the three cultural areas investigated and their relationship with the Celtic communities. This specific WP is dedicated to cultural networks analysis, from the object to society, by statistical approaches to get numerical indexes and conventional threshold helping to recognise consistent patterns in the dataset. The patterns, modeled by spatial and phylogenetic networks, are clustering with community/similarity methods and leveraging network to explore both material culture (chaînes opératoires) and the socio-economic dimension of the Protohistoric societies. The aim is to be able to automatically order and spatially orient such complex and heterogeneous data and try to set out a dynamic typology of nested networks and sub-networks as well as different scenarios of the cultural and economic interactions25.

Be FAIR, LOUD & OSS

To facilitate the sharing and collaborative processing of the data, the project has been designed from the very beginning to promote an Open Science approach, by deploying management tools and open-source software (OSS) for collecting, managing, and sharing data within the team, as well as for quickly providing the results to the scientific community as a whole: data, metadata, analysis protocols, workflow, computational methods (scripts/packages/software and thesauri).

The database, is made available in three different languages (French, Italian and English). Built as a FileMaker server, it is hosted on the TGIR Huma-Num servers and shared by the project team members. This web hosting allowed multi-users data entry, offering a suitable structure to process and archive data during the project time span, and to make the database interoperable with other web platforms. For being a database focused on archaeological artefact, its conceptual model (Entity-Relationship Diagram, ERD), designed by Agnès Tricoche (fig. 1), follows the structure of a techno-and typological record structure.

1. Detail of the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) of the database designed by Agnès Tricoche.
1. Detail of the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) of the database designed by Agnès Tricoche.

The database structure has also been set to ensure a persistent storage and to facilitate interoperability with related research data already implemented by the scientific coordinator via Archeolocalis and the BaseFer database linked to AOROC Chronocarto webgis interface and the Atlas de l’âge du Fer: http://www.chronocarto.eu/spip.php?article1&lang=fr

In a similar manner, a specific lexicon, translated into three languages, facilitates the categorisation of data, according to a polyhierarchical logic that fulfils the criteria of typological classification (450 defined concepts at the present day). This constitutes the basis for the structuring of a thesaurus, which is currently being developed in the OpenTheso repository26. The latter is a multi-lingual thesaurus manager, based on ISO 25964 (25964-1 and 25964-2). It provides ARK identifiers, a class of unique resource identifiers (URIs), and is also harvestable through its API. An ARK identifier linked to the AOROC laboratory has already been obtained. Computational routines – coded in R and bundle into a R package – allow, among other things, to model the thesaurus in a dynamic view (fig. 2).

2. Screenshot of first hierarchical level of the thesaurus in a dynamic collapsible tree, a JavaScript\HTML file, created by the ‘thesaurus’ function of the itineRis R package. From https://github.com/ANR-Itineris/itineris.
2. Screenshot of first hierarchical level of the thesaurus in a dynamic collapsible tree, a JavaScript\HTML file, created by the ‘thesaurus’ function of the itineRis R package. From https://github.com/ANR-Itineris/itineris.

Once the thesaurus completion will be achieved and made accessible, the ongoing assignation of ARK identifiers to the thesaurus concepts will guarantee their findability. The ongoing Wikidata alignment of the thesaurus will also ensure its interoperability with a wide community of potential users.

Web developments also include the 3D Framework viewer 3DHOP. The latter, developed as an OSS by the CNR-ISTI, is based on WebGL and HTML5. Supported by the Ariadne+ structure over numerous years, its logic is about to be substantially modified. The Itineris project is now looking for adapting its framework to the upcoming 3D recommended OSS tools.

Use of URI identifiers (Findability), open access to raw data and software logics (Accessibility), multi-linguism (Interoperability) and web developments will ensure le FAIRability of the research output with a high value on the linked open usable data (LOUD).

Data & contexts

The chrono-cultural area includes three different but culturally linked regions: the Golasecca culture (present-day eastern Lombardy, western Piedmont, and the Ticino region of southern Switzerland), whose products circulated across the Alps during the First Iron Age27, Inner Liguria – today southern Piedmont28 – and the indigenous communities settled in western Po valley29. The bonds developed between the Golasecca culture’s area and the neighbouring regions, between the end of 7th and the 5th centuries BC, is reflected in the spread, among other aspects, of typical Golasecca culture clothing elements, mainly fibulae and pendants, but also, to a lesser extent, arm-rings, studs and belts in sites showing both local and foreign products as Villa del Foro and San Polo, or Bragny-sur-Saône (Burgundy, France)30. This widespread therefore highlight the existence of close links between these communities, with mutual influences and a high degree of permeability of cultural borders31. Moreover, these cultural areas have been targeted by recent researches, publications and excavations while providing a broader and renewed dataset and cultural framework to overcome the traditional archaeological approaches32.

3. Geographic localization of archaeological sites adressed and cultural areas(base image Google Earth, CAD V. Cicolani).
3. Geographic localization of archaeological sites adressed and cultural areas
(base image Google Earth, CAD V. Cicolani).

Within this area, six settlements occupied during the same periods (6th-5th BC), have been selected, characterised by local craft production, the integration of foreign models and/or styles and a common or at least shared mode of dress: Villa del Foro, Montecastello, Bringnano Frascata, Pontecuron and Castello d’Annone in southern Piedmont (Liguria interior) and San Polo in Western Emilia (fig. 3). They were located along the main natural communication routes, and were therefore active players and intermediaries in medium- and long-distance trade, both within and outside the peninsula33. Only the bronze productions of Golasecca culture, belonging to the French collection, coming mainly from burials Monsorino and Golasecca cemeteries34.

The dataset includes nearly 1200 copper alloy objects, held in the three different museums, mostly composed of fibulae and clothing elements, from castings to finished objects, covering a chronological range from the end of 7th to the end of the 5th century BC. (fig. 4). In order to facilitate the cross-analysis, all these productions belong to the same categories, classes and types and, more generally, share the same lifestyle: the Golasecca type bronze productions.

4. Major classes and type of fibulae, belts and ornaments belonging to Golasecca type productions 7th -5th centuries BC.
4. Major classes and type of fibulae, belts and ornaments belonging to Golasecca type productions 7th -5th centuries BC.

A quickly overview of the Golasecca-type clothing items

The first and most widespread class of objects are the fibulae, a distinctive element of clothing, with both functional and ornamental value, and found in several items on all the sites here studied. Their distribution therefore allows comparative analysis on a supra-regional scal35. There are two main groups of fibulae, sanguisuga and navicella, mainly related to the female costume, and the serpentine and drago ones, usually belonging to male-type graves36. Sanguisuga, especially with inlaid coral or incised decoration, and serpentine fibulae are widely attested, in settlements as well as cemeteries in all the Circum-Alpine word and in Northern Italy37. On the contrary, the ‘navicella’ and ‘drago’ fibulae less widespread are with a reduced diffusion, and mainly from funerary contexts, likewise the arm-rings, studs, toilet items and the belt plates. The navicella fibula from Castello d’Annone is a rare example found in a settlement38, with three other fibulae with a thick bow from Villa del Foro39.

Another characteristic dress element is the belt plate, a functional clothing element, found mainly in women’s graves, but also documented in the settlement of Castelletto Ticino and its workshop40. The earlier types are Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age rhomboid types, known in north of the Alps and in Liguria41. The belt plates know in north-western Italy, found mainly in female graves, belong to the Golasecca models: the triangular shape type and the rectangular model, all dating to the middle-late 6th and the middle 5th cent. BCE42. The square shape, so-called S. Ilario type, is mostly widespread in the Po Valley, eastern Golasecca and Ticino and used from the end of the 6th and the end of 5th centuries BC43.

Pendants, which are as widely spread as fibulae in northern Italy as well as in the Transalpine area44, occur in many types and variants45. In the north-western Italy the most prevalent types are basket- and funnel-shaped pendants, as well as their rounded-bottom, conical and spherical variants46.

Arm-rings shared by the three areas belonging to two major types: the so-called Chiavari type an open model with rounded ends link to an older Ligurian fashion, and the arm-rings with overlapping ends, or Golasecca type, mostly found in male graves47. Their spread shows a narrower distribution, being present mainly in the western Golasecca group (Castelletto), in eastern Piedmont, and to a lesser extent in the Po valley and southern Piedmont, testifying to an inter-regional, short-range diffusion48.

#Bronze toiletry items are an innovation that from the late Bronze age, and especially after the 7th century, is widespread between the European Hallstatt regions and northern Italy (in the first phase mainly inside male graves, and after also in female context). The Golasecca typical set is composed by three-to-six elements, including tweezers, earwax scoops and nail cleaners. These items come mainly from tombs, with the notable exception of the artisan settlements of Villa del Foro and San Polo49.

Lastly, cylindric and tronconic-shaped buttons are the characteristic features of female funerary costume in Liguria, probably originally applied to perishable materials (Paltineri 2010, p. 85-88). As the arm-rings, starting from the 6th century BC, these ornaments were also found in burials and settlements in north-western Italy50, where they represent an evolution and local adaptation of the oldest Ligurian types from the 7th century BC.

In an overall, this preliminary review of the north-western Italy dataset and contexts shows a pattern of social and cultural interaction and human mobility of increasing complexity. The close similarities between stylistic features of fibulae, pendants, as well as the presence of semi-finished Golasecca-type objects, and the local variants or stylistic adaptation (e.g.) are highlighting a deeper implication of artisans and commoners in short, medium and long-distance relations. But behind this common fashion, how were these products made, with what type of raw material, and why are these productions shared? Are they imports, local imitations, technology transfers or a common craft tradition?

Belts from Northern-west part of Italy: archaeological, technological & archaeometric approaches

As previous noted, belt closures are a functional clothing element rarely documented in the Iron age settlements. Among the targeted sites, only two provide few examples: four from San Polo and two from Villa del Foro. Two other belt plates from Modena (donation to French Museum by Luigi Pigorini in 1874) and Monsorino (de Mortillet collection) complete the set of available belts. These artefacts belong to the two major types: the rectangular shaped Golasecca type and the square Sant-Ilario type (fig. 5).

5. Classes and type of fibulae, belts and ornaments analysed in the project. Objects not in scale. Elaborated by V. Cicolani from Faudino et al. 2014; Cicolani 2017; 2021.
5. Classes and type of fibulae, belts and ornaments analysed in the project. Objects not in scale. Elaborated by V. Cicolani from Faudino et al. 2014; Cicolani 2017; 2021.

Of these eight artefacts, six are being investigated by a technological and archaeometrical approaches in order to identify the provenance of the raw material, the nature of the alloy composition as well as the craft techniques (fig. 6).

6. Belts from San Polo & Golasecca. Objects not in scale.
6. Belts from San Polo & Golasecca. Objects not in scale.

The Golasecca bronze plate belt of the French Golasecca collection, was found in the cemetery of Monsorino51. The plate, made from very thin sheet bronze and mesuring 8,5 cm in length, has a rectangular shape with rounded edges, a short hook and four visible clips attaching the plate to the organic support. The fixation system is also provided by a small rivet as testify the small circular perforation close to the hook. The surface is decorated with burin-engraved zig-zag a chevron pattern, organised in four zones.

On the basis of these morphometric and stylistic features, this specimen is a Golasecca type52, and Ruffa class 5aD153. Is a typical clothing item of the end of the second period of Golasecca (G IIB, end of 6th-firt quarter of 5th centuries BC), documented also in the grave 13 of Sant’Ilario Fornaci near San Polo54 even if this example is smaller and probably belonging to the variant B1 of Casini, a less more ancient.

From a technological point of view, the plate could have been cast in a mold as evidenced by the three unfinished specimens from the settlement of Cascina Riviera and the stone mold found in the workshop at the settlement of Gropello55.

The belt plate from “Modena” is a part of a set of 2 pieces acquired by Gabriel de Mortillet in Modena from Giuseppe Giusti, on October 3, 1871, during the Congress of Bologna56. Probably found in a grave, the plate is a quadrangular-shaped belt plate with preserved hook (12 x 17 mm and 1.24 mm thick); one fixing tab is preserved at the base of the plate and the start of two others is also partially preserved on both sides. From the top, the plate is decorated with embossed bosses arranged in 6 rows of six bosses each, alternating with 5 rows of smaller bosses. These smaller bosses also frame the edges of the plate, forming a pearled motif. On the underside, traces of hammering are clearly visible below the decoration, indicating that it was shaped by alternating annealing and hammering before the repoussé decoration was applied.

The belts from San Polo can be categorised into two major types. The first type comprises two examples of the squared type, also called Sant’Ilario type, which is characteristic of female graves in Western Emilia and is distinguished by its embossed decoration57 like the belt plate from Modena (belts n. 409 and 410). The second type is represented by a fragment of a rectangular belt with a hock and closure system, which is categorised as type II of Damiani58 – more closely related to Golasecca production of the second half of the 6th century BC (belt n. 411), such as the small fragment of plate belt from Villa del Foro, which is more recent and used during the late 6th century BC.59 (fig. 6).

The belt 409 is a fragment of a belt plate in thin bronze plate, quadrangular in shape with slightly oblique edges. The embossed point decoration along the edge is preserved and clearly visible on the reverse: 7 well-preserved circular indentations made with a punch. On the anterior surface, only three embossed patterns remain clearly discernible, with the remainder being less perceptible. Under the patina, a geometric engraved pattern remains discernible. The hook, measuring 12 mm in length, exhibits a curved shape with rounded ends, and is preceded by a slight constriction that serves to secure it within the ring.

The n. 410 is also a fragment of plate in very thin bronze sheet metal. As the artefact 409, is quadrangular in shape with rounded edges and a trapezoidal appearance. The decoration comprises small punched dots in double rows along the edges and three transverse rows, alternating with two series of zigzag crosses separated by a transverse zigzag band. The embossed decoration is clearly visible on the reverse, and the circular depressions have a diameter of 0.5 to 0.7 mm. It is notable that some of these perforations have undergone a process of expansion, resulting in the formation of circular micro-perforations, a phenomenon that can be attributed to taphonomic effects and/or wear. The incised decoration on the upper surface bears a resemblance to a cold incised technique, employing a punch whose active end possesses a concave profile, thereby generating a succession of fine, short, intersecting notches. A short, wide hook fragments and four tabs fragments located at the corners of the plate (two at the base and two near the top edges) has been observed, serving to fix the plate to its support.

The artefact n.411 is a fragment of a belt plate in sheet bronze. It is rectangular in shape, with strongly rounded, oblique and slightly asymmetrical corners. The artefact is decorated with concentric dots or circles, which have been created by means of a punch, and which are barely visible beneath the weathered patina layer. The short, wide hook is deliberately coiled and closed. The U-shaped male hook is attached to a ring-bent stem, which is itself fragmented. The cross-section of the hook at the ring is fine, plano-convex, and rectangular.

Finally, the belt plate from Villa del Foro, is also a fragment of rectangular belt as the n. 411 from San Polo without decoration and rounded corners; only the end with the hook is preserved.

The belt plate from Monsorino: from object to ore

In the framework of a previous project, the bronze belt plate from Monsorino has been sampling with 11 other bronze ornaments from the same Golasecca French collection for comparative chemical and isotopic analysis. These analyses were carried out as part of the DFG project Die Sitzbank von Hochdorf and 2014 and recently published60. 20 other objects, also held at the MAN and which are currently being analysed by the C2RMF, have added to this set, in order to extend and consolidate this initial chemical reference system, and provide information about the provenance of raw materials.

Moreover, to better contextualise the data interpretation, a specific formal framework was created which linking statistics and network analysis61 of archaeometrical and archaeological data. These results are displaying and sharing through a 3D catalog of objects thanks an open-source web software, offering an open access computer scripts for replicability of data analyses, all gathered on the project’s GitHub/GitLab platform (fig. 7). This multiscalar and global approach, in line with the FAIR principle62, highlights provenance of the raw material and artifacts both in terms of geographical and cultural context63.

7. Example of 3D Framework viewer 3DHOP developed on a fibula by Th. Huet for the WP3 of Itineris project.
7. Example of 3D Framework viewer 3DHOP developed on a fibula by Th. Huet for the WP3 of Itineris project.

From a chemical point of view, elemental analyses indicate that these are fairly classic binary bronzes: Cu + SN (Sn 3.05 of alloyed Sn – 10.86 %). The Pb value here averages 1 %, indicating the presence of native lead in the ore and not a deliberate addition. Only two fibulae and one toilette item present an average of lead major of 2 %, suggest a possible deliberate addition in the alloy (fig. 7). Bi, As, Ag, Sb and Ni are the most significant impurities.

8. Alloy composition and isotopic results of Golasecca bronze artefacts, elaborated from Modaressi-Tehrani 2021.
8. Alloy composition and isotopic results of Golasecca bronze artefacts, elaborated from Modaressi-Tehrani 2021.

The belt plate presents a tin concentration of more 10 % a composition shared by the overlapping arm-ring (Golasecca type) and one fibula with inlaid coral decoration (fig. 6). Moreover, these data are in line with the results obtained on the San Polo artefacts (see below).

To complete the archaeological, chronological and archaeometric framework, data from the Chiusa Pesio deposit (late Bronze Age, Venturino 2009) were also integrated, with particular reference to the provenancing of lead. By cross-checking the isotopic and geochemical results with the AlpineAcheoCopperProject database of Padua University (AACP : http://geo.geoscienze.unipd.it/aacp/welcome.html) and data already published to pinpoint the origin of the ores, mining districts can be proposed64.

Preliminary results suggest different ore sources for these productions (fig. 9): the ore mined in the Recent and Final Bronze Age at Chiusa di Pesio (violet stars) is of Alpine origin, more particularly the Chialamberto and Val di Susa mining districts.

9. Isotope ratio diagrams a) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and b) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb of objects from Golasecca, Hochdorf and Chiusa Pesio compared with the possible ore sources of Italy: South–Eastern Alps AATV (Artioli et al. 2008; 2016; Nimis et al. 2012); Italy: Southern Tuscany (Stos-Gale & Gale 1992; Chiarantini et al. 2018); Switzerland (Cattin et al. 2011; Guénette-Beck et al. 2009); France: Massif Central - Montaigne Noire (Brevart et al. 1982); Iberia SW: Iberian Pyrite Belt IPB (Anguilano et al. 2010; Hunt Ortiz 2003; Marcoux 1998).
9. Isotope ratio diagrams a) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and b) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb of objects from Golasecca, Hochdorf and Chiusa Pesio compared with the possible ore sources of Italy: South–Eastern Alps AATV (Artioli et al. 2008; 2016; Nimis et al. 2012); Italy: Southern Tuscany (Stos-Gale & Gale 1992; Chiarantini et al. 2018); Switzerland (Cattin et al. 2011; Guénette-Beck et al. 2009); France: Massif Central – Montaigne Noire (Brevart et al. 1982); Iberia SW: Iberian Pyrite Belt IPB (Anguilano et al. 2010; Hunt Ortiz 2003; Marcoux 1998).

The ore extracted during the Iron Age by the Golasecca culture (yellow stars) seems to have at least three distinct sources: (A) Alpine, but different from Chiusa Pesio, (B) Iberian IPB, and (C) Franco-Swiss. Only one fibula points to the Tuscany region. These results demonstrate a high degree of congruence with those derived from the Hochdorf (red stars), though it should be noted that the geographical area of the latter encompasses a substantially broader area, extending into the red field (Iberia-IPB) and the green field (France-Switzerland).

We can therefore draw some preliminary conclusions, even if with a degree of caution. Firstly, there appears to have been a possible change in ore supply strategies between the Final Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. For the Alpine region, the results indicate that in the Late Bronze Age, the mining districts of the western Alps were less exploited for bronze productions of Hochdorf or Golasecca, and in any case were not used by the Golasecca communities during the Early Iron Age. The elemental analyses currently underway will provide useful information on the geochemical characterisation and therefore on the identification of the most promising mining districts used during the First Iron Age.

Lastly, the application and development of this formal multi-proxy approach should also enable a thorough and critical examination of traditional markers and approaches already applied to the identification of past human mobility. By extending the framework of reference and multiplying comparisons with other products from the same archaeological contexts, this project will provide a better understanding of the supply and production strategies developed by northern Italian communities, and their modes of interaction, during the First Iron Age throughout the Alps.

Belt plates from Villa del Foro & San Polo-Campo Servirola

Chiara Lucarelli & Veronica Cicolani

The second case study refers to a sampling mission carried out at the Museum of Reggio Emilia in June 2022. 15 of the most representative objects from San Polo – Campo Servirola were selected and 16 samples were taken. Among these artefacts, 3 fragments of plate belt were sampled and one fragment from Villa del Foro (Musei Reali of Turin) has also added to complete the set of belt plate coming from the settlements here studied and presented.

In order to determine its microchemical and microstructural characteristics, as well as the provenance of the metal, isotopic analysis was complemented by chemical and metallographic analysis of the same samples (OM-RL, SEM-EDS, EPMA, LIA) processed by the department of Geosciences of Padua.

The chemical compositions indicate that the tin (Sn) content in the bronze varies between the objects from Villa del Foro, which display a higher tin content (ranging from 10 to 16 wt.%), and those from San Polo (fig. 10). Indeed, the tin content of the latter varies from 1 to 12 % by weight, with only one fibula displaying a higher lead content than all the other objects, and only one fibula is significantly different from all other objects due to the higher amount of lead (fig. 11).

10. Scatter plot related to Cu and Sn content for each typology. Elaborated by C. Lucarelli.
10. Scatter plot related to Cu and Sn content for each typology. Elaborated by C. Lucarelli.

For all samples with a lead content of less than 5 wt.%, a comparison was made with a database of Cu mineralization, given that no intentional addition of Lead had been made during the manufacturing process. This comparison was made for two fibulae and a San Polo stud. Conversely, artifacts with a Lead content of over 5 % by weight were compared with a database of Pb-Ag mineralization, given the intentional nature of the addition. The provenance of Copper was verified for the first group, while the provenance of Lead was determined for the second.

11. Scatter plot related to Pb and Sn content for each typology. Elaborated by C. Lucarelli.
11. Scatter plot related to Pb and Sn content for each typology. Elaborated by C. Lucarelli.

As demonstrated in figures A and B, the objects to which lead has not been deliberately added exhibit a different metal origin. The majority of the objects are made with metal from the Alpine arc of south-eastern Italy and from Slovakian deposits, while three objects are made with Copper from Southern Tuscany in the Colline Metallifere area (fig. 12). These findings are consistent with the elemental analysis previously documented for the fibula linked to Colline Metallifere and the copper ore from the Alpine region for the other Golasecca production, including the Golasecca belt plate.

12. Isotope ratio diagrams a) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and b) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb of objects compared with the possible ore sources of Italy: South–Eastern Alps AATV (Artioli et al. 2008, 2016; Nimis et al. 2012), Southern Tuscany (Stos-Gale & Gale 1992; Chiarantini et al. 2018) and North–Western Sardinia (Begemann et al. 2001; Stos-Gale & Gale 2009); Austria: Inn Valley (Hoppner et al. 2005; Horner et al. 1997; Koppel & Schroll 1983a; 1983b; Koppel 1997), Balkans: Bulgaria (Pernicka et al. 1997; Stos-Gale et al. 1998; Amov 1999; Gale et al. 2000) and Slovakia (Schreiner 2007); c) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and d) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb Aegean: Kea (Stos-Gale et al. 1996), Kalkidiki (Gale 1980; Vavelidis et al. 1985; Wagner et al. 1985; Gale et al. 1988), Laurion (Gale & Stos-Gale 1982; Chalkias et al. 1988; Stos-Gale et al. 1996) and Thasos (Vavelidis et al. 1985; Chalkias et al. 1988; Stos-Gale et al. 1996).
12. Isotope ratio diagrams a) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and b) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb of objects compared with the possible ore sources of Italy: South–Eastern Alps AATV (Artioli et al. 2008, 2016; Nimis et al. 2012), Southern Tuscany (Stos-Gale & Gale 1992; Chiarantini et al. 2018) and North–Western Sardinia (Begemann et al. 2001; Stos-Gale & Gale 2009); Austria: Inn Valley (Hoppner et al. 2005; Horner et al. 1997; Koppel & Schroll 1983a; 1983b; Koppel 1997), Balkans: Bulgaria (Pernicka et al. 1997; Stos-Gale et al. 1998; Amov 1999; Gale et al. 2000) and Slovakia (Schreiner 2007); c) 207/204Pb vs 206/204Pb and d) 208/204Pb vs 206/204Pb Aegean: Kea (Stos-Gale et al. 1996), Kalkidiki (Gale 1980; Vavelidis et al. 1985; Wagner et al. 1985; Gale et al. 1988), Laurion (Gale & Stos-Gale 1982; Chalkias et al. 1988; Stos-Gale et al. 1996) and Thasos (Vavelidis et al. 1985; Chalkias et al. 1988; Stos-Gale et al. 1996).

Concerning the potential sources of ore supply for the lead origin, the data pointed out the Aegean deposits, notably the Laurion deposits, as illustrated in Figures C and D. In contrast, the lead required for the fabrication of one armilla is sourced from the Murcia-Carthagena deposits in southwestern Spain, while the lead necessary for the creation of one of the tronconic studs is derived from Bulgarian deposits. The low percentage of lead in the chemical composition of the belt plate precludes analysis of its provenance of this raw material.

In summary, the results obtained demonstrate the existence of varied supply strategies that have been employed by the communities settled in north-western Italy over time, and these strategies are indicative of cultural and/or strategic choices. The primary sources of Copper are located in Italy (South-Eastern Alpes) and Slovakia, while the primary sources of Lead seems located in the Aegean region (Laurion and Thasos/Kalkidiki). There is also evidence of contacts with Southern Tuscany for Copper trade and with Bulgaria and the South-Eastern Iberian Peninsula for Lead trade, as for some Golasecca productions. These current results clearly suggest the presence of a multifaceted commercial network encompassing raw materials, a network that does not necessarily align with that of finished products and which remains to be fully elucidated65.

From object to people and from communities to trade and social networks

All information derived from the project is modelled according to the progress of the three WPs, with the aim of reconstructing the flows of exchanges and techno-economic transfers. A multiscalar approach is here employed to evaluate the dynamics of purchase, exploitation and re-distribution of both raw materials and finished objects, initially in northern Italy and subsequently throughout Europe. To this purpose, mathematical and spatial data modelling is employed, utilising R programs and graph theory to visualise and organise complex and heterogeneous data, such as archaeological records, and identify a dynamic typology of connected networks and sub-networks.

Comparing from a contextual, quantitative and qualitative point of view the co-presence of local and foreign productions and/or craft as well as chemical composition, it is possible to understand the different levels of integration, transformation and adaptation of stylistic-formal traits, aesthetic tastes or artisan practices that translate a direct or indirect human mobility and know-how transmission. Moreover, this approach allows us to study the interactions between cultural entities from another angle, going beyond the dichotomous and hierarchical interpretation of center-periphery.

On a broader scale, the previous application of shortest-path analysis to the Alpine and Circum-alpine diffusion of northern-west bronze items has already highlighted the organization and evolution of the pathways and mountain passes through the time, and also suggested alternative trade routes and passes traditionally that have historically been overlooked66. Moreover, the dissemination of Golasecca products throughout the circumalpine zone has been observed in comparison to imports from the south, which included amphorae, Greek ceramics and Etruscan bronze vessels. This observation has led to the identification of the presence of multiple interconnected trade networks: https://zoometh.github.io/golasecca/.

On the inter-sites/areas scale, the relations and geo-economic networks models are currently being tested. In this framework, the data set, has been structured on the basis of hierarchical descriptors, and its characterization (typology, context and quantification) has been completed by adding a qualitative variable, here called “style”. Based on the morphostylistic study of each object, this factor allows us to translate into factual terms the local tastes/adaptations of supra-regional models and types, thus making it possible to model the relationships of cultural influence between communities67. The application of graph theory and community detection algorithms (here, edge.betweenness.community, from the R package ‘igraph’) has enabled the identification of the degree of importance and proximity between groups. This has also facilitated the highlighting of more localised interactions based on specific objects and classes, thereby revealing a sophisticated interplay of influences. These connections reflect relationships with variable geometry, which are never univocal or unidirectional, and in which local production, adaptation, creativity and imports describe social realities in motion and of increasing complexity (fig. 13).

Thus, this comparative study of clothing item types and styles has allowed us to explore more deeply their interactions, clarifying, by the same way, the impact of their dissemination in a medium scale: Northern Italy.

13. Example of community detection (edge.betweenness.community) and site spatialisation (520-480 BC). Elaborated by T. Huet, from Cicolani et al. 2024).
13. Example of community detection (edge.betweenness.community) and site spatialisation (520-480 BC). Elaborated by T. Huet, from Cicolani et al. 2024).

The present research is founded upon an interdisciplinary and innovative analysis of North-Italic productions disseminated on both sides of the Alps. This analysis allows for a rethinking, both empirically and theoretically, of the transalpine connections that have long been crystallised around Greeks, Etruscans and Celtic elites.

From a historical standpoint, the understanding of metal craft in northern Italy represents a significant turning point. It provides a crucial lens through which to explore the intricate mechanisms of the transmission of technical skills, as well as the dissemination of iconographic and ideological systems within the context of a highly dynamic and complex social network.

This approach will facilitate the identification of specific traditions and fashion rules that remain misunderstood to this day, whilst concurrently facilitating an assessment of the role of all individuals and entities involved in the production, dissemination and acquisition of various goods and products.

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Acknowledgements

This project is a collective work performing by an international team and funded by the ANR (AAP 2021/ JCJC) : ANR-21-CE27-0010

In the framework of the WP1 of the project:

Isotopic analysis has carried out by Chiara Lucarelli, Gilberto Artioli, Caterina Canovaro (Geosciences) and Ivana Angelini (Beni culturali)

Chemical analysis was performed by Benoît Mille, Jessica Legendre, Sibylle Manya (C2RMF) and Veronica Cicolani (only for the sampling campaign)

Data modelling has been conducted with the invaluable assistance of Thomas Huet, supervisor of the WP3.

The author wishes to express their sincere gratitude to the curators Giada Pellegrini (Museo Civico di Gaetano Chierici) and Rosario Maria Anzalone (ex-SAPAB, Turin) for their invaluable assistance, flexibility, and commitment to the project. Additionally, the author would like to acknowledge Annalisa Capurso for her institutional role in authorising the sampling campaign in Reggio Emilia. The author would also like to extend their deepest appreciation to all the museum staff, with a special acknowledgement to Paolo.

Gratitude is extended to Marica Venturino, who, over the course of several years, has played a pivotal role in involving me in this significant research topic, namely the interactions between inland Liguria and its neighbouring cultural regions.


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Notes

  1. Rolley 2003; Bonomi & Guggisberg 2015; Verger & Pernet 2013; Cicolani 2017; Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  2. e.g. Kimming 2000; Rolley 2003; Schumann & van der Vaart-Verschoof 2017.
  3. Tarditi 2007; Bonomi & Guggisberg 2015; Hurlet et al. 2014, Schumann & van der Vaart-Verschoof 2017; Brun et al. 2021.
  4. Brysbaert & Gorgues 2017; Van Der Vaart-Verschoof & Schumann 2020.
  5. Brysbaert & Gorgues 2017; Dubreucq et al. 2020; Cicolani 2021b; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  6. Dietler 2005; Adam 2006; Bats 2006; Cicolani et al. 2015; Cicolani 2017; Guilaine et al. 2017; Verger & Pernet 2013; Zamboni 2018.
  7. Nakoinz 2014; Cicolani et al. 2015; Cicolani 2021a; Van Der Vaart-Verschoof & Schumann 2020.
  8. Nakoinz 2014; Knappet 2015, Brysbaert & Vetters 2020; Cicolani & Huet 2019; Cicolani & Gambari 2021; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  9. Knappett & Malafouris 2008.
  10. Peake et al. 2020; Brysbaert & Gorgues 2017; Gorgues et al. 2017; Peacke et al. 2020; Verger & Pernet 2013; Faudino et al. 2014; Cicolani 2017; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  11. Millet & Dubuis 2020; Dubreucq 2018; Brun et al. 2021, Dubreucq et al. 2020; Cicolani & Berruto 2017.
  12. e.g. Fabietti 2005; Zamboni 2022; Cicolani & Zamboni 2022.
  13. Dietler 2005; Bats 2006; Adam 2006; Verger & Pernet 2013; Cicolani 2017; Tremblay-Cormier et al. 2019; Tremblay-Cormier & Isoardi 2019; Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  14. Berranger 2009; Brun 2006; Gorgues et al. 2017; Brysbaert & Gorgues 2017; Dubreucq et al. 2020; Millet & Dubuis 2020; Cicolani 2020.
  15. Brysbaert Vetters 2020; Dubreucq et al. 2020.
  16. Angelini et al. 2009; Angelini et al. 2017; Dillmann & Bellot-Gurlet 2014; Guilaine et al. 2017; Cicolani & Berruto 2017; Berruto 2023.
  17. Chaume & Casini 2014; Cicolani 2017; Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  18. Cicolani 2020.
  19. Cicolani 2017; Cicolani & Gambari 2021.
  20. Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  21. Thivet et al. 2024; Cicolani 2021b; Cicolani & Dubreucq in press.
  22. Augier et al. 2012; Dubreucq et al. 2020; Brun et al. 2021.
  23. Cicolani 2017; Tremblay-Cormier et al. 2019; Cicolani & Zamboni 2021.
  24. https://itineris.huma-num.fr/
  25. Cicolani & Huet 2019; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  26. https://opentheso2.mom.fr/index.xhtml
  27. Chaume & Casini 2014; Cicolani 2017; Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  28. Venturino Gambari & Gandolfi 2004.
  29. Zamboni 2018.
  30. Cicolani 2017; Cicolani 2020; Cicolani & Zamboni 2022.
  31. Cicolani & Zamboni 2022; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  32. Faudino et al. 2014; Cicolani 2020, Cicolani & Berruto 2017; Cicolani et al. 2023; Zamboni 2018; Venturino, Giaretti 2021; Berruto 2023.
  33. Faudino et al. 2014; Cicolani & Huet 2019; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  34. Lorre & Cicolani 2009.
  35. e Cicolani et al. 2024.
  36. von Eles Masi 1986; Casini 1998.
  37. Cicolani 2017.
  38. Venturino Gambari 2014.
  39. Faudino et al., 129; Cicolani 2021, 531.
  40. Ruffa 1999, and https://una-editions.fr/i-fermagli-di-cintura-in-bronzo-golasecchiani-di-forma-triangolare-e-rettangolare.
  41. Paltineri 2010.
  42. Casini 1998, 136; https://una-editions.fr/i-fermagli-di-cintura-in-bronzo-golasecchiani-di-forma-triangolare-e-rettangolare.
  43. Casini 1998, 136; Damiani et al. 1992, 333-334; Zamboni 2018, 177-181.
  44. Casini & Chaume 2014; Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  45. de Marinis 1981, 229-232; Cicolani 2017, 144-149; Tessman 2007.
  46. Damiani 1992, 331; Faudino et al. 2014, 136-138; Barbieri 2019; Cicolani 202b1, 542-543.
  47. de Marinis 2014, 106-111.
  48. de Marinis 2014; Cicolani et al. 2024.
  49. Faudino et al. 2014, 138; Cicolani 2022, 543; Damiani et al. 1992, 332-333; Zamboni 2018, 188.
  50. Damiani et al. 1992, 336-337; Ruffa 2010, 115-116; Cicolani 2021, 541-542.
  51. Lorre & Cicolani 2009, 90-91.
  52. variant B2 after Casini 1998, 136, fig. 15.3.
  53. Ruffa, https://una-editions.fr/i-fermagli-di-cintura-in-bronzo-golasecchiani-di-forma-triangolare-e-rettangolare, fig. 2.
  54. type 2 after Damiani, Damiani et al. 1992, 334, Zamboni 2018, 178, fig. 100.1.
  55. Ruffa, https://una-editions.fr/i-fermagli-di-cintura-in-bronzo-golasecchiani-di-forma-triangolare-e-rettangolare/, fig. 17-18.
  56. Cicolani, Lorre 2008.
  57. Zamboni 2018, 178, fig. 100.
  58. Damiani et al., 173-174.
  59. Cicolani 2021, 538-539.
  60. Modarressi-Tehrani 2021.
  61. Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  62. Wilkinson et al. 2016.
  63. Cicolani et al. 2023.
  64. Artioli et al. 2008a; 2008b; 2016; 2020; Chalkias et al. 1988; Chiarantini et al. 2018; Nimis et al. 2012; Graesar & Friedrich 1970; Modaressi-Tehrani 2021.
  65. e.g. Guilaine et al. 2017.
  66. Cicolani & Huet 2019.
  67. Cicolani et al. 2024.
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Cicolani, Veronica, “Fashion, belts & archaeometry: preliminary results of the ANR Itineris project”, in : Cicolani, Veronica, Graells i Fabregat, Raimon, Zamboni, Lorenzo, ed., Fasten your belts! From Iberia to North-West Italy, Pessac, Ausonius Éditions, collection NEMESIS 4, 2025, 195-220. [URL] https://una-editions.fr/fashion-belts-archaeometry-anr-itineris-project
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