#pre-roman

CANOSA DI PUGLIA: What a wonderful couple of days I spent last week in Canosa [despite the rather warm weather]. I visited the excavations and the new venue of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Canosa [not yet open to the public], engaged in discussions with local archaeologists and art historians from the Fondazione Archeologica Canosina [ https://www.canusium.it ], and gathered excellent material for my forthcoming article in ANTIQVVS Magazine. The article will focus on one of the distinctive aspects of the pre-Roman heritage of Canosa.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the warm hospitality and the superb organisation of the visit, which included access to unique and often overlooked historical sites as well as ongoing excavations. My thanks go both to the Fondazione Archeologica Canosina as an institution, and to its individual founders, representatives and specialists:

Dott. Sergio Fontana, President [ IG: @ fac_canusium ]

Matteo Fraccacreta [ IG: @ fac_canusium ]

Francesco Specchio [ IG: @ canosasiamonoi ]

Giusy Del Vento [ IG: @ giusydelvento ]

Giovanni De Ventuno, Univ. of Bari

Archaeological Museum of Canosa https://museipuglia.cultura.gov.it/musei/museo-nazionale-archeologico-di-canosa IG: @ museo_archeologico_canosa

Fondazione Archeologica Canosina:

Web : https://www.canusium.it

FB : https://www.facebook.com/canusium.it

IG : @ fac_canusium

YT : @ fondazionearcheologicacano7127

Diocese of Liège: this Belgian diocese was, to some extent, based on Roman and pre-Roman territories, starting the tenth century as an attachment to the then-powerful Lorraine.

Oil flask (Guttus), 300s BCE, Apulia, Italy

"Guttus is a Latin word referring to a small vessel with vertical spout and ring handle, probably used for pouring small amounts of precious liquids. Often, mold-made ceramic gutti take the form of animals, with realistic painted decoration. Here, the lifelike frog features black stripes and alternating black and white circles."

machaera Hispana ...

The sword nowadays taxonomically refered to as the Iberian Falcata was a fine carbon-steel weapon of Celtic design an manufacture that went on to inspire the Roman Gladius and Spatha swords. Single-edge curving blade is badass.

Tartessian Culture: the Tartessian was a near-mythical culture in Iron Age Iberia which was rich in resources and relatively advanced forms of technology, including shipbuilding and metallurgy - and then it disappeared.

Map of Iberia 600 BC: south-western Iberia of around 600 BC contained a rich, technologically-advanced civilisation in the form of the Tartessian culture, as this map shows: