Discovery of a medieval cemetery in Siponto with burial of mother and son

During the excavation campaign underway for three weeks in Siponto, a few kilometers from Manfredonia in the province of Foggia, the team of archaeologists from the universities of Bari and Foggia found a medieval cemetery (dating back to the 12th-13th century) with dozens of burials including the particularly moving one of a mother holding her little son close to her. The news of this particular discovery was given by ArcheoSipontum through a note on its social profiles.

The announcement of the discovery

"The excavations in the port area of Siponto have started again for three weeks - archaeologist Giuliano Volpe, professor at the University of Bari, explained to ANSA - During the excavations, about a week ago, we found a wall structure of thirty meters and inside a real cemetery with about thirty subjects who seem to have been placed there all lined up. Among these, almost all adults, except for a few children, we noticed this woman aged between 30 and 40 years old who was holding her son, presumably aged between 4 and 5, in her right arm. Obviously we will now carry out in-depth anthropological tests on the bones to precisely date the discovery and above all to understand whether it is a boy or a girl. We will also continue with the excavations to verify the possible presence of a cult building. At the moment there are various hypotheses being examined regarding the discovery."

The project

The excavations in Siponto are carried out by the two universities of Bari - with the teachers Volpe and Giovanni De Venuto - and the university of Foggia - with the teachers Maria Turchino and Roberto Goffredo - in which students from the respective universities also participate, as well as some students from the Scacchi high school in Bari for internship activities.