In 2010 Amsterdam University continued its research in the urban area, in the zone of Poggio dei Cavallari situated north of the Nettuno-Cisterna provincial road and object of systematical archaeological research since 2004. The investigation concentrated on the tombs along and above the Archaic remains of the main road and adjacent structures, bringing to light a total of 39 tombs. The western, southern and perhaps the northern limits of the necropolis, which covers an area of about 200 m2, were established. The tombs were arranged with little space between them and sometimes overlying, in parallel rows and almost all were orientated east-west. As regards the funerary ritual and tomb architecture they appeared very similar to the burials in the south-western necropolis excavated in the 1980s. However, there were differences which can probably be linked to the fact that the necropolis dates to a later period (4th century B.C.) and that the burials are those of a group of individuals of a certain social standing, attested by the slightly larger graves and the tomb groups which were generally richer both in the quantity of vases and of personal artefacts.

All of the burials were in carefully-dug rectangular graves of various sizes. The grave floors were horizontal and in some cases had more or less rectangular holes in the corners for the feet of the wooden coffins. The deceased was usually in a supine position, the head to the east, the arms extended by the sides with the hands resting on the pelvis and legs parallel with the feet side by side. All were in a wooden coffin which was visible as a blackish-grey rectangle in the tomb fill. The deposition level in the tomb varied between 1.10 m and at least 2.40 m below ground level, often cutting the two overlying surfaces of the main road. The real depth of the tombs could not be established due to ploughing which had destroyed the upper part. The fact that the tombs were dug into stretches of the Archaic walls indicates that the latter were not visible anymore at the time the necropolis was laid out.

In almost all the tombs the bones were found in a very bad state of preservation, it was only possible to establish the sex of one individual. The teeth appear, for now, the most represented element of the anthropological sample examined with 25 individuals so far, 11 adults, two sub-adults and 12 infants.

Out of a total of 39 tombs identified to date there are at least 14 infant burials, a rather high number. They were buried both in individual graves or in graves with an adult. Clearly the infants, even the youngest, were considered a “persona sociale” in their community with the right to the same burial ritual as the adults. Some were accompanied by rich tombs comprising ornamental bronze and glass-paste artefacts and, in some cases, miniature weapons made of lead.

Greek type pottery was present in at least 10 tomb groups including kylikes, cups-skyphoi and several small black glaze jugs and even a red slipped deinos. A large number of wine transport amphorae from all over the Mediterranean and local imitations of Greek forms were found. Their large number, as well as their extensive presence in the adult burials, always two examples and sometimes an association of two different provenances, is unusual.

In recent years the necropolis at Poggio dei Cavallari has produced a significant quantity of new data which opens a new chapter in the history of Satricum. Beside the south-west necropolis and the smaller cemetery on the acropolis we now have a third necropolis attributable to the population occupying Satricum from the 5th century B.C. onwards.

Considering the fact that the tombs were inserted into the Archaic structures that were no longer visible, it may be suggested that the Archaic city no longer existed, at least as far as regards the lower urban area. Further research on the necropolis, which continues to the east, is programmed for next year.