SAN GIORGIO BIGARELLO, ITALY—A 5,000-year-old necropolis containing 22 tombs has been discovered in northern Italy, according to a Live Science report. The cemetery is situated on a dry, sandy hill, which helped to preserve the human remains, explained Simone Sestito of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Flint daggers, arrowheads, and blades have been recovered from the tombs, in addition to the bones. “Some of the tombs also had burial goods like necklaces made with soapstone beads,” Sestito said. Many of the individuals were interred with their heads to the northwest, on their left sides, with their legs bent to their chests. “The positioning of the bodies suggests that there might have been some correlation with another Copper Age culture from northern Italy known as the Remedello,” who buried their dead in a similar manner, Sestito explained. DNA analysis of samples taken from the bones could offer insight into the group’s identity, he concluded. To read about the clothing worn by the Copper Age man who died in the Italian Alps 5,300 years ago, go to "Ötzi's Sartorial Splendor."
