Laives-Via Galizia (Bolzano) : indagini antropologiche e archeozoologiche in un sito di culto dell’antica età del Ferro

Th e Laives - Via Galizia archaeological site, dating between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 6 th Century B.C., has been accidentally discovered around the half of the ’90s, in the middle of a wide developing building area, located in the North-East sector of the village. Th e excavations revealed two main archaeological evidences: a plot of dry stone walls, interpretable as a drainage installation and, in a sector immediately above the walls, a black, carbonaceous layer, interpreted as the fi nal eff ect of ceremonial activities, focusing on the destruction with fi re of votive off erings, related to the deposition of the cremated remains of four individuals. From the site – in addition to a high number of archaeological fi nds (over 11000 pieces including pot sherds, metal fragments, glass, etc.) – there is also a remarkable quantity of combusted human bones framents (about 5000), many burnt animal astragals (some of them pierced) and a certain quantity of unburnt bones. Th is last group of fi nds has been attributed to animals, precisely 182 pieces, of which 45 have been determined to species and anatomical portion. Most of them are of cattle (40 specimens), but the presence of horse and goat has also been attested.