Le sepolture di infanti nelle necropoli e negli abitati bolognesi tra IX e VIII sec. a.C.

This paper focuses on the different characters assumed by the burials of children in the early Iron Age (late X-VIII century BC) in the territory surrounding the Etruscan city of Felsina, found both in the necropolis and in the inhabited areas. The new data found during the excavation of the necropolis of Borgo Panigale show us that in this period infants were included in the funeral ritual from birth, with a type of funeral ritual similar to that of adults. Some elements of a female character, like spindle whorls, are also visible in few tombs of girls, while in those of boys there are never any grave goods. It is hypothesized that this difference is due to a different conception of the role assumed by the children in the community, which perhaps took place in girls at an earlier age, while in boys it became evident only after the transition to an older age. In addition to these elements, there are also some indicators of high status found in few tombs of infants, like armillae, fibulae or necklaces, which we can interpret as a sign of the inheritance of the family's rank. This paper focuses also on some ritual burials of human fetuses found in the village of Castenaso, a few kilometers away from Bologna, dating from the mid-9th to the 8th century B.C. The skeletal remains were found inside large cavities dug in the ground, in which fires were lit. Around the human remains were found objects related to the female sphere, such as spindle whorls, loom weights and spools, but also parts of sacrificed animals. It is therefore hypothesized that these depositions are linked to the cult of a female and chthonic divinity, comparable with those discovered at Civita di Tarquinia and at Veio - Piazza d’Armi.