Wednesday, 31st May 2006 (2799 views)

The remains of a Bronze Age woman, buried with several ornaments and jewellery in gold, bronze and amber, have been unearthed on the site of the Roman Forum. Experts say this discovery could point to an entirely different reading of Italian history.

The fact that the woman was buried with her jewellery, rather than cremated, has led archaeologists to speculate that she was of a higher social status than others found on the same site, from around the same period. Some are already calling her the "Queen of the Latins".

Five tombs from the 10th century BC have been found beneath the Forum in Rome since the beginning of the year, but, like the ancient Romans who settled the area later, all of them showed the practice of cremation as a death rite.

The woman's skeleton, her teeth and decorations were perfectly preserved, archaeologists said, despite being over 3,000 years old, predating Christianity by 1,000 years.

Dating the skeleton means that the woman's civilisation must have inhabited Rome more than 300 years earlier than the traditional date believed to represent the founding of the city, 753 BC.

Digs in the Forum are increasingly suggesting evidence of an advanced Bronze Age civilisation, which may have constructed a temple and necropolis, and settled nearby on the site of the later Roman Temple of Jupiter.

The "Queen of the Latins" and her treasures may eventually be displayed in an exhibition of the latest discoveries in the Forum museum.

 

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