The Terramare/4 – Bronze Artifacts and Metallurgical Tools
1.
The daggers on display illustrate the evolution of their basal section: the earlier examples (on the left) have a rounded base, while the later ones (13th century BCE) feature cast handles designed to be completed with bone plates. The hairpins and axes (arranged vertically, from top to bottom) also display significant changes over time.
On the horizontal surface of the case, a complete sword and a fragment of another are exhibited, along with spear and arrowheads, a fishhook, a sickle, and various items of personal adornment. The bronze rods may have been used as awls, but they could also have served as a form of metal reserve—essentially functioning as ingots.
Casting molds and blowpipes—used to raise the temperature of the fuel—indicate that a metalworking workshop was active at Castione Marchesi.
2.
The artifacts on display exemplify the exceptional craftsmanship of Terramare metalworking.
Among the items are weapons—such as swords and spearheads—as well as axes and daggers, which could have been used both for combat and as tools for daily work. The miniature axe decorated with dotted motifs likely held symbolic significance.
Several objects are associated with personal grooming and adornment, including a razor, dress pins, a button, a bracelet, and a fibula—a type of brooch similar to those still in use today, which first appeared in the late 13th century BCE.
The sickle was a common working tool, while the long bronze chisel may have served both as a tool and as a kind of ingot. The small grey bar, on the other hand, is a rare example of a tin ingot.
3.
This section of the display case is divided into three areas, each presenting bronze artifacts unearthed in different stratigraphic layers—and therefore datable to distinct phases—of the Beneceto Terramara.
The oldest group, consisting of several pins, an axe, and a dagger, dates from the late 15th to the mid-14th century BCE. The central group belongs to the period between the second half of the 14th and the mid-13th century BCE and includes pins and daggers of various shapes, along with the first appearances of razors and pendants.
The most recent objects—daggers, a ring and bracelets, pins, and a small disc—date from the second half of the 13th to the early 12th century BCE.
Various tools associated with metalworking—such as nozzles, blowpipes, casting molds, crucibles, and bronze slag—were found in a peripheral area of the settlement, providing clear evidence of metallurgical activity. The nozzle and mold on display date to the final phase of Beneceto’s occupation.