A small pre-Roman necropolis was uncovered during a watching brief on the laying of the Oviglio-Ponti stretch of a gas pipeline, to the north-east of the town of Montabone. It was probably the burial ground for the high status members of a community of Ligures Statielli. The area is characterised by massive alluvial-colluvial deposits with a mainly sandy matrix.

Sixteen cremation burials were excavated, which appeared to belong to two successive phases. Eleven were characterised by circular enclosures of cobbles and pieces of local sandstone slabs, inside which the pits for the deposition of the urn and grave goods were excavated. The pits were covered by large stone slabs. The remaining 5 were simple pits covered by a single stone slab. All of the burials were marked by tumuli containing the natural stone resulting from the excavation of the pits in the gravel layer originating from the ancient bed of the river Bogliona. Also present were a large quantity of burnt residue from the cremation, containing metal and glass paste elements from clothing and personal ornament which the deceased probably wore at the time of the cremation. Soil residue from the pyres was present across the excavation area: micro-morphological analyses should determine whether the origin can be considered intentional, and thus linked to rituals of purification or consecration, or natural, that is caused by the erosion of the tumuli in the necropolis.

The cinerary urns were usually covered by a bowl, the base resting on the rim of the urn itself and containing the deceased’s personal drinking vessel. To the side was a vase destined to receive food offerings. Together with the pottery assemblage, the female tombs also contained bronze and iron fibulae. Iron razors and knives with wooden and horn handles were present in the male burials. The arrangement of the vases and metal artefacts inside the tombs, grouped up against one side of the pit, suggests that the remaining space contained perishable materials, such as containers, elements of wooden furniture and offerings of food and flowers.

Although the finds study is still in the preliminary stage, Montabone has already proved to be a site of great interest for the study of the southern Piedmont region in the second Iron Age, thanks to the exceptional state of preservation of the funerary structures and associated finds. In contrast with other coeval necropolises in the Alessandria area, excavated in conditions that did not permit exhaustive documentation, it was possible to investigate this site in a thorough manner.