An unusual case of prone position in the Punic/Roman necropolis of Monte Luna in Sardinia (Italy): A multi-disciplinary interpretation of Tomb 27

Abstract

Sardinia (Italy), noted for its wealth and strategic position, has been conquered through time by different populations and each one of them instilled their specific culture, ritual behaviour, and customs. Sometimes a clearcut distinction is evident between these cultures, while other times it is more of a natural progression with no marked moment of change evident. This study discusses a single grave from the Necropolis of Monte Luna, established by the Punic people, with depositional chambers and pits carved on a rockhill in front of the city settlement (Acropolis). Among the 120 tombs, Tomb 27 contained a young woman (T27.2) buried in an atypical prone deposition, having disturbed an earlier burial (T27.1), a subadult around 15 years of age. T27.2 suffered two distinctive types of perimortem trauma, a possible diastatic blunt force trauma to the occipital bone and a small quadrangular-shaped lesion reminiscent of a Roman era square shaped nail. The grave goods allow a quite specific dating to the period of transition between Punic and Roman cultures. These, and other characteristics of the young woman’s skeleton, are of significance in understanding funerary and cultural behaviour at the time of this transition.