I am pleased to conclude my thirty-year experience as
scientific director of the Luigi Fantini Archaeological Museum of
Monterenzio with this text requested by my friends at the Istituto
Francesco Cavazza in Bologna.
These quick notes aim to underline the
special bond of friendship that I continue to have with Cavazza since my
busy years at the university and to pursue what I have always been
committed to in Monterenzio: transfer to people who are not specialized in
archaeology some of the knowledge acquired through my work as an
archaeologist.
Many years ago I left Bologna to go to the University
of Bourgone, in Digione, where for a few years I tried to be useful
particularly to students of archaeology and Etruscology; my relationship
and bond with Monterenzio have not been interrupted none
the less. Distance has probably facilited the fulfilment of some of my
projects like the publication of the excavations of Monte Bibele and those
of the necropolis Monterenzio Vecchio.
My new work relieves me from scientific coordination
engagements which I held extensively these past years and that others will
carry on; but I will return to Monterenzio to conclude what I must. I am
leaving at Monterenzio an important part of my life, professional as well
as personal.
When I entered in Cavazza's courtyard, more than a year
ago, I feared that it would reopen a dimension concluded at the beginning
of the '70s, More or less like when high school friends meet again 10
years later for a reunion and discover themselves to be different,
changed, often ungainly in attempting to be what they once were. Most of
all, I thought that Cavazza's.atmosphere, people and links had not
changed.
The courtyard's yellow and red creeping roses that accompanied
my reading in the 60's had not yet bloomed, but the smell of the wax on
the floors was exactly the same, the elevator was something new, then my
meeting with Cavazza's Director Mario Barbuto, was just like in the old
days. Thirty years have gone by.
So we talked about the things that
happened.
Between 1978 and 2010, the museum of Monterenzio was an
animated local reality, with little means but with much enthusiasm and
which defended its own right to deepen the history of its region and its
own past against the rigidity of a protective system more inclined to
formalism than to the substance and the efficiency of actions, leaning
more towards mistrust than proposals.
What mattered was to be able to inaugurate a part that integrated the different itineraries of our museum, which essentially contains as is well-known the extraordinary material of Monte Bibele (setttlment, necropolis, sanctuary) and Monterenzio Vecchio (necropolis). Of the rare realities of our region where the 4th and the 3rd centuries B.C. are documented in an expectionally complete manner.
If for a museum containing sculptures it is relatively simple to propose to people living with vision loss casts of works of art in marble or bronze (following the required ministry's authorizations!) the works of art to be touched and manipulated can weigh on the museum which protects in display cases everything that it presents... here the challenge is more complex.
How to demonstrate the blade of a Celtic warrior's iron sword, misshaped by corrosion of 2,300 years ago, extremely fragile and untouchable because it is protected by a glass? A reconstruction done by an extraordinary craftsman (Vncenzo Pastorelli, Hephaestus, the patron of all craftsmen) who, with precise instructions of mine and other specialists, proposed measures, compared shapes, made trials until he was able to make a pointed two-edge blade identical to the blade of the 107 tomb. The same with the sheath made with two thin sheets of tens of millimetres with a pressure notch and a triangular metal point with fretwork and so on. A wooden shield with reinforcement done in a piece of iron, the lance, the javelin. In the future, such pieces of weapons could subsequently be enriched, who knows. Vincenzo used his forge, iron, hammer, white-hot bricks, the strength of his arms and knowledge to create a ready to be used weapon to strike with its edge and its point, light and fast, just like the one found on the warrior's 107 tomb, a man who died at the age of about 30 because his opponent was faster than him. Thanks also to Ilaria Raspadori who created an Etruscan mirror from the end of the 4th century similar to the one found on the 101 tomb. The mirror is engraved with scenes inspired by Homeric heroes, but it is the opposite part, which is convex, that reflects the images, somebody's face with details that are more nuanced than that of a modern mirror.
Other friends of groups evoking the history of the Celts and Boi have then completed the pieces of furniture
The support of the friends of Cavazza has been to transfer into Braille the texts of captions in print and to make plans in raised lines on some of the tombs and in the Celtic-Etruscan settlement of Monte Bibele. An essential contribution because, oddly, these information tools were what mostly interested sighted visitors.
To increase understanding and to make it easier to read the plan of the Celtic-Etruscan settlement, it was necessary to add to the essential part of the documentation relating to a dwelling on high ground to separate the groups of houses from the streets that delimit them, to draw attention to the large common cistern to the base of the building itself. Easy and efficient and without losing information. Various tests were done before reaching the best solution.
Obviously, it can always be better but a stone was thrown and placed and it is possible that in the future everything can subsequently be improved, above all in anticipation of the enlargement of the exhibition areas. Renewed visibility should be given to the new discoveries to complete the presentation.
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mario Barbuto and Giovanni Cellucci for their efficiency, as well as to Vincenzo and Ilaria for their friendly and practical collaboration and to Nicola Bianca Fàbry for the coordination of the operation and the tangible help.
To carry out the supports of the materials exhibited, we benefited from the backing of R.L. 18 Emilia-Romagna Region, so we thank the Province of Bologna, IBC and the Fondazione Carisbo for their precious contribution.