Punic necropolis
The part that can be visited is located under the Tukory barracks, between piazza Indipendenza, corso Pisani, via Cuba, via Pindemonte and via Danisinni.
During the Punic era, the necropolis was located outside the city walls, on an upstream area that was the natural continuation of the stretch of land generated by the two rivers Kemonia and Papireto.
Since 1746, the year of the first discoveries that took place on the occasion of the construction of the poor man's inn, over seven hundred tombs have been found.
The excavation of a portion of the necropolis was completed between February and June 2004: a total of about 150 burials were excavated, extensively distributed under the Tukory barracks.
This systematic investigation was accompanied by some random discoveries with emergency excavations. A hypogeic chamber tomb was discovered, on the occasion of the installation of the new water network, at the corner between Via Maggiore Amari and Corso Calatafimi, allowing to recover one of the most ancient grave goods of the entire necropolis, characterized by the presence of typical forms of the Phoenician repertoire. Two other underground chamber tombs were found during the restoration works of the monumental complex of the poor hotel in Corso Calatafimi.
Based on the large number of burials, some scholars thought they could confirm the words of Polybius (I, 38) who defined Palermo "the most important city of the Carthaginian eparchy"
The types of burial were different:
- simple burial: simple pits or wells for cinerary urns, dug into the earth
- sarcophagi: sarcophagidug into the calcarenite and covered with terracotta tiles or a slab of limestone
- chamber tombs: a ladder carved into the rock allows access to a small underground room that housed the sarcophagus (in which the personal objects of the deceased were placed), usually covered with terracotta or stone slabs, above which the trousseau was placed .
The burials are mainly a burial, but there are also ad cremation.
Text source: wikipedia
in-depth document: Carmela Angela Di Stefano: New discoveries in the Punic necropolis of Palermo.
download document: 2011_03_22_10_14_23
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero Web
Photos:
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