![[Translate to German:] il tumulo, rilievi](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/2/csm_tumulo_large_5d07beaeea.jpg "[Translate to German:] il tumulo, rilievi")
“...and then, after placing the body in the grave on a bed of foliage, they would drive spears into the ground on either side of the deceased, lay pieces of wood across them, and cover it all with a mat... Once this was done, they would all together raise a mound, competing in their desire to make it as large as possible.”
(Herodotus, Histories, Book IV, 72.5)
Between 2000 and 2002, at the initiative of the Rector of the University of Udine, three excavation campaigns were carried out on a Protohistoric burial mound located within the University’s Agricultural Estate, in the area known as Pras de Tombe (San Osvaldo). This was the first excavation of its kind to be conducted using a strictly stratigraphic method and without any emergency-related motivations.
The mound, situated on a terrace formed by ancient floods of the Cormor and Torre streams, has a truncated conical shape with a roughly circular base of about 26 meters in diameter and a height of approximately 4 meters. In the early 20th century, its base measured about 35 meters across. Later, the Psychiatric Hospital administration modified the small artificial hill to give it a more regular conical shape, crowned by a viewing terrace.
Excavations confirmed that the structure had been narrowed at the base and raised at the top by adding layers of gravel, pebbles, and silt, approximately 90 cm thick.
To ensure visibility even from a distance, the burial mound was erected on a slight rise within the high alluvial plain. The geological sequence—comprising silty-clayey soil rich in sandstone nodules (“ferretto”) overlying a gravel substrate—was observed at the base of the monument. On the eastern slope lies a late Roman lime kiln, built with large, dry-laid stones and partially set into the base of the slope. On the southern side, a large pit—associated with fire-related activities and also presumably of late Roman date—was identified and partially excavated.
The Protohistoric monument was composed, from top to bottom, of alternating layers of clay and gravel, stabilized by small wooden barriers, followed by a thick clay layer, and capped with a dome of large cobblestones (5 meters in diameter and 70 cm in height), arranged radially around a rectangular wooden burial chamber measuring 2.30 x 0.80 meters. On top of the original wooden roof, rows of larger cobblestones had been laid; as the wood decayed, these stones collapsed into the chamber, crushing the deceased's skeleton.
The inhumed individual, buried without grave goods, lay on his left side, oriented southeast to northwest, with his head turned to the left, facing west. His elbows were bent, hands positioned near the face, and legs slightly flexed. The remains belong to a robust, well-nourished adult male, aged between 25 and 35 years. He was approximately 1.70 meters tall and weighed about 76 kilograms.
The San Osvaldo burial was initially dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE (between the Early and beginning of the Middle Bronze Age). This timeframe was later refined through radiocarbon analysis of bone collagen extracted from a phalanx, yielding a calibrated average date of 1920 BCE—corresponding to the central phase of the Early Bronze Age.
Based on current evidence, it is possible to state that during the transition between the Early and Middle Bronze Age, small kinship-based communities inhabited the Friuli region. Their leaders were shepherd-warriors, whose status was demonstrated not only by the possession of weapons—such as the dagger found in the 1980s in the burial mound of Selvis di Remanzacco—but more significantly by the complexity and monumentality of their tombs, clearly intended to be seen from afar. Like their contemporaries in Central and Eastern Europe, the builders of the Friulian tumuli sought to assert a symbolic and visible claim to territory.
The discovery of the tomb concealed within the mound involved the collaboration of numerous scientists and specialists, enabling the application of a wide range of methodologies. These included geoelectric and seismic surveys to detect buried structures, topographic surveys, and geosedimentological analysis—all preceding the excavation. Post-excavation work involved anthropological and paleopathological analysis of the human remains, radiocarbon dating (carried out by a specialized lab in Miami, Florida), and pollen analysis for reconstructing the ancient environment. The palynological data revealed a largely open landscape, with areas of meadow/pasture interspersed with some cultivated fields.
Finally, a polyester resin cast of the burial was made, allowing for the musealization of the find and making it available for educational and public outreach purposes.