Necropolis of Ficana. Excavations Cataldi Dini (1975-1977): an update

Abstract

This paper is about Maria Cataldi Dini’s excavations conducted from 1975-1977 in the Orientalizing necropolis of Ficana. The tombs, their distribution, type, evolution and some burial objects were soon presented after the digs at
conferences, exhibitions and study meetings. The discovery of the necropolis and some parts of the nearby settlement indeed confirmed what was reported by Roman literary sources around the Ficana existence. At the time only a limited number of burial goods have been published in full (Tombs 5, 14). To complete the data that remained incomplete, we propose the catalog with photographic documentation of the other grave goods wich were then
presented in a selective form (Tombs 1, 11, 15, 19, 21). This paper takes into account the extensive and precious documentation and research work carried out in the years following the excavations. The restoration and revision interventions carried out on most of the objects and the results of the latest excavations have contributed to our better knowledge. Furthermore the bibliographic increase on the Orientalizing period allows us today to cast an even
more in-depth look at the society of Ficana, its funeral rites and the internal arrangement of the tombs. Today its relationship with the coastal towns of the Latium Vetus (above all Acqua Acetosa Laurentina and Castel di Decima) and its partecipation in the ideological dynamics that invested the Mediterranean area between 8th and 7th Century BC appear more defined.