Valdieri Archaeological Area

The excavations were carried out between 1984 and 2001 by the Superintendence for the Archaeological Heritage of Piedmont and led to the recovery of a burial complex that testifies to the funerary use of the area between the fourteenth and sixth centuries BC, i.e. from the recent Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age.
A total of 12 tombs have been identified in the various research campaigns, including a cenotaph (i.e. a burial without the deceased which represents the community's desire to maintain the memory of a person who has died or is buried elsewhere) and 3 ritual structures.

At the northern end of the area, a circular pit has also come to light containing a large stone fixed in a sub-vertical position, half of it would have stuck out of the ground at the time, it has been classified by archaeologists as a funerary marker.
The first tombs and ritual pits date back to the Bronze Age, while a monumental structure built more or less in the same place dates back to a few centuries later, which in one case accidentally interferes with the oldest part of the burial site.

The oldest tombs are characterized by an urn on a stone slab containing the bone remains of the deceased and elements of grave goods, inside wells dug into the ground.
The rather limited number of burials, the privileged position and the long period of use of the site suggest that it was intended for individuals with particular roles within the communities of the time, such as chiefs or priests.
A further detail that reinforces this idea is the fact that we have never found traces of a possible settlement of the living in this area, while the choice of cremation as the type of funeral rite in use is probably due to the abundance of wood suitable for the incineration rite.

At the end of the research, it was decided to enhance the site, now owned by the Park Authority which, in collaboration with the Superintendence and the financial support of the Municipality, the Province and the Mountain Community, installed a protective covering of the funerary enclosures and the entire area was organised in the best possible way.
Below this roof is the funerary complex, which is organised starting from a central structure of probably rectangular shape around which quadrangular enclosures are placed, bordered by low dry stone walls with burials under earthen mounds.

Some evidence suggests that part of the burial ground may have been lost due to possible landslides of part of the terrace on which it was built.

In the space behind the burial ground, a faithful reconstruction of a Bronze Age hut has been created for educational purposes, surrounded by a space for cultivation, a kiln for firing ceramics and an enclosure for animals. These facilities can be enjoyed thanks to cultural animation and specific educational programs that illustrate the various practical activities of the Bronze Age such as the noble art of weaving, the manufacture of ceramic objects and the breeding of sheep and pigs.

In the absence of original objects from Cuneo, the hut and furnishings have been reproduced on the basis of models of the same period found in other areas of northern Italy.
In fact, the hut was designed starting from excavation data from the site of Ponte San Marco di Calcinato, in the province of Brescia.
These data testify that in protohistoric times these types of buildings were built using resistant and flexible woods such as oak or ash. For its reconstruction, however, chestnut was chosen, as it is easier to find.
The walls are made up of an interweaving of hazelnut branches covered with mud, sand and straw while the roof covering is rye straw, according to a tradition attested in Valle Gesso even in much more recent times

The first section of the exhibition houses finds that attest to a use of this area as early as the Copper Age (3,500 – 2,200 BC) as well as chapters with specific insights dedicated to the caves of le Grotte del Bandito of Roaschia, one of the most important sites in Piedmont with finds of cave bear, and to the burial ground of Entracque which remained in use from the fifth century B.C. until the second century A.D.

Within the second section there is an in-depth study dedicated to the protohistoric burial ground of Valdieri where the finds returned from the tombs are presented, illustrating through drawings the funerary practices of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

Among the various finds from these two eras present in the two sections we can list the cineraries (some found almost intact), the bronze armlets of the "Crissolo" type, the globe rings, the brooches and the ship fibulae belonging to the Iron Age, and again fragments of torques and a bone needle with a flattened and perforated base related to Bronze Age burials.

The information and the informative and explanatory illustrations present along the visit allow you to understand the original function of what is observed, such as the case of the fibulae and metal elements used in women's clothing, which have become the symbol of the archaeological route as can also be seen from the their presence in the Park's institutional logo