After the Roman necropolis discovered between 2022 and 2023 in Padua, a new piece of the city’s past emerges today: a protohistoric necropolis belonging to the ancient Venetians.
The first evidence emerged in 2024, during the renovation of some buildings in via Campagnola, where archaeologists brought to light a series of burials dating back (probably) to the period between the 6th and 5th century AC until the beginning of the Romanization.
So far the tombs have been found, including burials in wooden and stone coffers, and other “dolio”, or vessels containing bones and equipment. To surprise the researchers was in particular an equine burial, which would demonstrate the ritual importance of horses at the ancient Venetians.
Inside one of the tombs, the one contained in a large wooden case, 36 different objects were found,- including two Obuar vases, various ceramic artifacts and some bronze and iron objects, which suggest a high social class.
Speaking of the discovery, the superintendent Vincenzo Tiné said:
It is an extraordinarily important acquisition of research because this new North Necropolis allows us to ascertain that the limits of the Venetian city coincide substantially with those of the Roman city, definitively clarifying the extraordinary urban dimension of the first Padua.
Sources: University of Padua/Superintendency of Metropolitan Area Venice and Provinces Belluno
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