The area of the Great City of Dead consists of the Necropolis of Manicalunga, on the west side of Modione river, the widest and most recent necropolis, beginning near the Malophoros sanctuary, 3 km deep; the second Necropolis, on the east side of Modione river, in the country Galera-Bagliazzo, called Manuzza, expanding on a surface of about 4500 square meters; the third, in locality Buffa, in the east side of Modione river, is less rich of ceramic material.There are also the necropolis of Pipio and Gaggera. The burial sets present a mixed ritual. Most part of the tombs are interment tombs, a minor number are cremation tombs, according to the custom of burning the dead, while interment is the custom of burying the dead. The
age of adults was on an average between 19 and 29 years. There are different kinds of tombs and Professor Tusa divides them into "tomba terragna" (the corpse was laid to rest on the hare ground or perhaps into a wooden coffin), "tomba in costruzione" (the corpse was laid to rest into a hollow made of syuare ashlars), "tomba cappuccina" (the corpse was laid to rest into a small hollow made of terracotta slabs), "tomba a fossa' (the corpse was laid to rest into a hollow dug in the rock according to the dead's size), "tomba a sarcofago" (the corpse was laid to rest in a stone or terracotta sarcophagus), "deposizione (the dead's cremated remains are preserved in a vase. The
"pietas" of relatives and friends accompanied the dead with
oil-lamps to which a magic meaning was ascribed; they were considered
necessaries to lighten the darkness of the Chereafter. |