Inferring social dynamics of Italian Copper Age communities by stable isotopes analyses: preliminary results from central and southern Italy
The Copper Age in Italy (4000-2300 BCE) is represented mostly by funerary contexts, with many cultural practices still under debate. The funerary ritual is expressed by burials in artificial or natural hypogea, often used for collective burials over a long period, as witnessed by secondary depositions and radiocarbon dates. Grave goods are scarce if related to the number of inhumed, suggesting a specific socio-cultural relation within individuals of the same funerary structure, but our understanding of daily life is influenced by the ritual aspects of these contexts.