A long series of excavation campaigns has revealed one of the largest cemetery complexes of the Lombard period in the territory of Brescia, containing more burials than the much larger necropolis of the nearby towns of Leno and Calvisano.
The site is situated on the slopes of the outermost cordon of the glacial morain of Lake Garda by the side of an ancient road which linked Monitichiari with the settlements to the north and south, skirting the paleo river bed of the Chiese. To date 311 tombs have been excavated over an area of circa 6000 m2 . The cemetery belonged to a 7th century village, perhaps situated in the adjacent valley, where, just to its other side on another rise, a small early medieval cemetery was found in 1995 probably relating to the same village.
Only 79 burials contained assemblages of clothing and grave goods, of very different composition , datable to within the 7th century. The over 300 finds, which are at present being conserved and studied, can be divided according to their function into six main groups: blades, metal finishings for belts and leather straps, items of clothing and metal ornaments, items of clothing and non-metal ornaments, cosmetic articles, tools for domestic and daily use. Amongst these, the most significant in number and variety – which make the necropolis of Monte S. Zeno unique in the entire Lombard panorama – are 48 combs made of bone and horn. These combs often have complex decorations, including an exceptional example in open work forming a pattern of small arches held up by columns with capitals. The discovery of two necropoli so close to each other indicates the birth in the 7th century, of a substantial settlement, which after the year one thousand, transferred further north to set up around a new castle built near the major Brescia-Mantua road. This and other finds will be illustrated in the exhibition and publication “I Longobardi a Montichiari” which are planned for March 2007. (Andrea Breda)