Another instructive station, which I visited along with the
distinguished archæologist, Sig. Crespellani, is that at Montale, a
few miles south of Modena. Here the elevation of the mound is more
marked than at Castione, as the entire mass stands clear above the
surrounding plain, and, like it, the central part is occupied by a
church and some other religious buildings. The discovery of this
terramara was not made till 1868, but, its contents being readily
accessible, the progress of its demolition has been rapid. In 1871
it was selected as the most suitable to be visited by the members of
the International Congress, and, for their special benefit, a new
section was then opened up. The annual explorations conducted in this
mound, of course regulated by agricultural demands, are now entirely
in the hands of the authorities of the Museo Civico at Modena, who
appropriate all rare objects for the enhancement of their large and
valuable prehistoric collection. The director of the Museum, Sig.
Boni, publishes, from time to time, a report of the excavations and of
the results obtained. (B. 380 and 421.)
According to Boni, the area of the mound, including the dyke, was
9,000 square mètres (about 2 acres), of which about 4,000 are occupied
by the ecclesiastical buildings already referred to. Of the remaining
space available for explorations about one half has been cleared away.
On the north side of the church, just on the verge of the pit where
the workmen were riddling and preparing the saleable stuff, stood an
enormous chestnut tree, whose roots could be seen below the grassy
surface projecting from the perpendicular face of the section. The
priest, whose house forms part of the ecclesiastical buildings on the
mound, soon joined our party, and expatiated on the fabulous age of
this tree, but which Crespellani reduced to something like 150 or 200
years. The entire height of the section here exposed would be from 15
to 20 feet, the upper five of which consisted of mouldy soil, which
has, of course, to be removed before the commercially valuable stuff
is reached. In the course of the removal of this upper stratum the
following objects were found, viz. an iron hatchet, fragments of a
spur, several keys, and some much corroded coins of the Old Empire.
The remains of fifteen human burials were also encountered, three of
which had the bodies enclosed in cists made of large bricks. Indeed,
some large tiles, apparently part of a sepulchre, were still to be
seen protruding from a part of this layer. Near one of the unenclosed
burials lay a terra-cotta lamp and a bone comb with a double row of
teeth. Sunk into the upper part of the terramara beds was a primitive
lime-kiln, "evidently," says Boni, "introduced into the _cumulo
marnoso_ at a later period than its formation." (B. 386, p. 13.)
The great depth of this upper bed of mould, which exists in all the
terremare, is very remarkable and most puzzling to archæologists. Boni
thinks it was spread over the mound at some posterior time, either for
agricultural purposes, or as hygienic precautions, or perhaps from
motives of respect to the supposed sacred character of its contents.
All the rest of the section was terramara proper, whose contorted and
wave-like beds could readily be distinguished. Sticking in the face of
the section were innumerable fragments of black pottery, broken bones,
and bits of charcoal. All the stuff, before being disposed of, was
passed through riddles, and what remained was thrown aside as useless
rubbish, the heaps of which could only be estimated by cart-loads. The
riddlings consisted almost entirely of broken pottery, among which
were occasional clay weights and more frequently spindle-whorls,
together with the bones and horns of animals, many of which were
converted into implements. Bronze objects were comparatively rare.
Part of a large earthen dyke which is supposed to have surrounded the
entire mound is still left exposed on the north side. It measured from
20 to 30 feet in breadth at the base and 11½ feet in height. Boni,
in his description of this dyke, states that a section which ought
to be conical is not so, but more slanting on the outside; also, at
the inner side, its contents are occasionally seen to overlap the
terramara beds. From this and some other structural details he adduces
evidence to show that the dyke had been subsequently added to by the
terramaricoli during their occupation of the settlement. Bearing in
mind what Pigorini says about Castione, the significance of these
observations will be readily perceived.
[Illustration: =Fig. 84.=--MONTALE. All ½ real size.]
[Illustration: =Fig. 85.=--MONTALE and various other Terremare in the
vicinity. All ½ real size.]
For illustrations of relics from Montale see =Fig. 84= and =Fig.
85=, Nos. 1 to 6; and for its literature B. 157, 184, 186, 204, 231,
298b, 367, 386, 421, 422, 425a'. An account of the excursion to
Montale by the members of the International Congress is given in their
Proceedings for 1871 (Bologna).