Description
In the 5th century, Italy was subject to invasions by peoples from north-eastern Europe, but in Parma the Ostrogothic kingdoms of Theodoric (493-526) and his nephew Athalaric (526-534) seemed to allow a brief recovery after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. In the area, archaeological traces of these populations are not numerous: Gothic burial grounds have been found along the road to the Val d’Enza, in Botteghino di Marano, and near the Po, in Sissa. Other Gothic materials come from the excavation of the necropolis outside Porta San Barnaba and from the burial ground near the amphitheatre.
In 568, coming from Scandinavia, the Lombards, following King Alboin, arrived in Italy, conquering large areas of northern and central Italy. Their presence in Parma is testified by the rich burials of the 6th and 7th centuries in Borgo Valorio and Borgo della Posta, and by the burial grounds of Palazzo Sanvitale, Borgo Angelo Mazza and the forensic area. In the territory, the burials reveal an occupation distributed in small settlement nuclei placed to control the Apennine valleys and the connecting roads.
Bibliography
Storia di Parma. Parma romana, edited by Domenico Vera, Parma, Monte Università Parma, 2009
I longobardi in Emilia occidentale, edited by Manuela Catarsi Dall’Aglio, Sala Baganza, Editoria tipolitotecnica, 1993
Artworks and Collections
