The arrival of new people
3a.
Near the Po River, in Sissa Tracasali (PR), excavations revealed a cemetery with around sixty graves, used between the 1st and 6th centuries AD. About thirty of these were simple pit burials, some of which had been looted in antiquity or disturbed by farming. These graves contained only a few items, like bronze fibulae, armlets, small iron knives, and bone comb fragments, dating to the 6th century. Notably, tomb 49 contained two eagle-shaped brooches and an iron knife. The types of grave goods and burial practices suggest that the buried individuals were likely of Gothic origin.
3b.
A similar Gothic cemetery was found at Botteghino di Marano, west of the road to Lucca (now via Traversetolo). This site includes about fifty graves made from tree trunks, earth pits, and reused bricks from the nearby Roman aqueduct. In tomb 1, the remains of a female infant were found, along with fixed pendant bronze earrings and strings of glass beads. In tomb 39, two polyhedral bronze earrings and a bronze bracelet with dotted decorations at the flattened ends were placed near the woman’s right forearm. Tomb 26 belonged to an adult woman, with grave goods including two bronze hoop earrings (one with a polyhedral shape, the other with a conical amber bead) and a necklace made of beads in amber, steatite, and glass. Tomb 47 contained two individuals: the man’s right arm was under the woman’s side, and her grave goods included a double-row bone comb. Finally, tomb 18 contained an iron key.
4.
The Gothic buckle, dating to the first half of the 6th century, was discovered by Luigi Pigorini during excavations at the terramara of Parma, near the cemetery located by the Roman amphitheater. Made of sepiolite (hydrated magnesium silicate), it’s also known as “sea foam” because small pieces of it float in water in areas like the Black Sea, where it’s found.