Bronze Age Funeral Pyre Found To Contain Dozens Of People From Eight Generations
A mystery lies deep in the Italian Alps. There, in Salorno—Dos de la Forca, archaeologists have been studying a highly unusual 3,000-year-old funeral pyre since 1986. Though they found some answers about this archaeological site in 2022, questions still remain about this peculiar place.
A new study of the pyre suggests that between 48 and 172 individuals were burned at the site across eight generations. Though cremated remains make it difficult for researchers to determine if the individuals were related to each other, grave goods and settlements nearby suggest that they either belonged to the same families or that they were elites.
PLOS ONEThe Salorno—Dos de la Forca pyre was used 3,000 years ago to ceremonially burn bodies.
Because archaeologists have found evidence of cups, bowls, and jars, among the human remains at Salorno—Dos de la Forca, they suspect that ancient people once gathered around the fire as it burned, raised a toast to their loved one’s memory, and then threw their glasses into the blaze.
Though the new analysis of Salorno—Dos de la Forca made for some exciting archaeology news in 2022, the site still presents plenty of mysteries. For starters, the bodies burned at the pyre were left there. Elsewhere in Europe, they would have likely been gathered and placed in urns.
“This site appears as something very different,” explained Federica Crivellaro, the co-author of the new study, “a pyre of dead bodies that were not selected for burial but intentionally left in the open, commingled with offerings and their own personal goods.”
