Wie viel Macht hinter der Pracht? Erste Überlegungen zu reichen Frauenbestattungen in Numana

Abstract

This paper presents a number of graves of the necropolis of Numana (AN, Italy) belonging to wealthy females. In particular, the female graves from the ”Circolo delle Fibule“ and the ”Tomba della Regina“ are compared with each other, with the aim to understand similarities and differences between high-ranking burials of the necropolis. All female graves are distinguished by the extremely high number of fibulae in the attire of the deceased – up to several hundreds. This and other aspects of the local burial custom can be interpreted as strategies to highlight status, rank or age of the deceased. It is more difficult to understand which role these women played in their community. Besides the common gender indicators among the grave goods, there are no clear indicators of these women’s political or religious positions. Only the grave assemblage of the ”Tomba della Regina“ allows us to speculate about a possible leading role of the deceased, as shown by the extremely opulent burial with two two-wheeled wagons, hundreds of ornaments, and an unparalleled banqueting set. A more accurate definition of the role of the women of Numana could be offered by the investigation of other burial complexes with circular ditch from the local necropolis, which were probably a prerogative of the local elites.