The Museum, inaugurated in 2004, is located in the Baronial Castle of the village of Oliveto Citra. It houses an initial collection of finds from the excavation campaigns of 1928-29 which uncovered as many as 65 burials, spanning a broad chronological range, from the 8th-7th century to the 4th-3rd century BC. These are expressions of the “Oliveto-Cairano” culture, which within the “pit tomb culture” represents a unique case due to its strong conservatism and the exuberance of female ornamentation. The female grave goods in fact display remarkable richness with absolutely characteristic elements, overloaded in all their parts with decorations, as evidenced by the numerous objects that appear particularly abundantly in the grave goods; these are exhibited with the reconstruction of a female ornamental costume inside the Museum (demonstrating the solemn and sacred image of the woman of Oliveto Citra as a defining example of this culture). The 4th-century BC tomb offerings of Oliveto resemble those from other centers in the Samnite-influenced Campania, indicating that this site also participated in the “Samnitization of Campania” phenomenon, which occurred during the second half of the 5th century BC. For the 4th to early 3rd century BC, the necropolises yielded black-gloss pottery and “red-figure” ware as well as obviously geometric-decorated vessels; an interesting sign of the territory’s Samnitization are the bronze belts, a peculiar element of Samnite costume.
Information about the Provincial Archaeological Museum of the Upper Sele Valley
Castle of Oliveto Citra – Via Chiesa snc,
84020 Oliveto Citra (Salerno)
09757717
museiprovincialisalerno@virgilio.it
Source: MIBACT
