The old-school views advocated by Dr. Coppi, viz. that the terremare
were remains of funeral pyres (_roghi_), so much biassed his mind
that for many years he appeared to have paid little attention to the
significance of the strata, and consequently the first two volumes of
his magnificently illustrated monograph on the terramara settlement
at Gorzano (B. 207 and 261) lose much of their value from having
the objects of different ages indiscriminately mixed. This defect
is so far removed in the third volume that he divides the deposits
into upper and lower, corresponding to the historic and prehistoric
periods. But, notwithstanding this defect in Dr. Coppi's earlier
works, his investigations are of considerable scientific value, as his
numerous matter-of-fact observations are strictly to be depended on.
The accompanying plan and sections of Gorzano will convey some idea
of the position of the terramara beds in respect to their immediate
surroundings. The deposits (marked c on section A) extended in
length about 90 to 100 mètres from north to south, and 70 mètres in
breadth, with an average thickness of 3½ mètres. The settlement was
constructed on a natural elevation, rising about 9 mètres above the
rest of the plain and 11 above the bed of the adjacent stream Tiepido.
It was surrounded by a ditch and a dyke, and it also contained the
remains of a palafitte. The existence of piles is clearly proved by
Dr. Coppi himself, who gives a section (C) showing their respective
positions, but at the same time he denies that they indicate the
remains of a palafitte.
Of the comparative frequency of industrial remains in the terramara
deposits, a correct notion will be got from a study of Dr. Coppi's
report of the excavations at Gorzano during the year 1875. In this
year there were 274 cubic mètres excavated, covering an area of 180
square mètres; and from this mass of _débris_ there were collected
3,051 objects, of which 173 belonged to the upper or Romano-mediæval
stratum, which varied from 1 to 1½ mètres in thickness. The rest
of the objects, which came from the under strata, and were reckoned
prehistoric, are thus classified:--852 industrial objects, 1,544
remains of vertebrate animals, 285 remains of molluscs, 153 vegetable
remains.