Guerriero di capestrano, da capestrano, 600-550 ac ca

''The Warrior of Capestrano'' is a tall

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

statue of a

Picene Picene is a hydrocarbon found in the Pitch (resin), pitchy residue obtained in the distillation of peat tar and of petroleum. This is distilled to dryness and the distillate repeatedly Recrystallization (chemistry), recrystallized from cymene. It ...

warrior, dated to around the 6th century BC. The statue stands at around 2.09 m. It was discovered accidentally in 1934 by a laborer ploughing the field in the Italian town of

Capestrano Capestrano ( Abruzzese: ') is a ''comune'' and small town with 885 inhabitants (2017), in the Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. History Antiquity In the necropolis the statu ...

, along with a female statue in civilian attire, called '' Lady of Capestrano''.

Description

The Capestrano Warrior is a piece of Italic art dating back to the

6th Century BCE The 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC. In Western Asia, the first half of this century was dominated by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which had risen to power late in the previous century after succe ...

. At first, archaeologists and historians thought these statues depicted members of a powerful Italic family. It is made of

, and it stands on a base made of lithic. Two pillars were used to laterally frame the statue. It depicts a man wearing a

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

and carrying

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

and

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

. He is wearing a wide-brimmed parade helmet with a crest of feathers. Between the kardiophylax lied a

long sword A longsword (also spelled as long sword or long-sword) is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for primarily two-handed use (around ), a straight double-edged blade of around , and weighing approximate ...

and a

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidence ...

. It also wears a ''mitra,'' which was a short apron covering the back. It had a black plate with a broad hinged band. Anthropomorphic and

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

friezes In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

decorated the handle of the sword. This statue has other weapons such as spears, javelins with throwing loops, and axes. Most of the

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

and equipment the statue is Etruscan and Italic clothing. However, the statue is wearing a hat with a huge brim and

sandals Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can som ...

with blades instead of soles. It is possible that these added garments were designed to make the statue seem larger, and more powerful. An epigraph names the statue. It is called Nevio Pomp(uled)io. This epigraphy possibly identifies him as an Italic king. Another possibility is that this statue, and the individual it depicts was subject to a

damnatio memoriae is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have been many routes to , includi ...

. Another inscription incised on the pillar standing to the right of the warrior reads in

South Picene South Picene (also known as Paleo-Sabellic, Mid-Adriatic or Eastern Italic) is an extinct Italic language belonging to the Sabellic subfamily. It is apparently unrelated to the North Picene language, which is not understood and therefore unclas ...

: "''Makupri koram opsút aninis rakinevíi pomp �ne�''" ("Aninis had this statue made most excellently for Rakinewis, the Pomp nian). This statue has traces of pink paint.

Archaeology

It was discovered in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

. This discovery led to a series of archaeological excavations in the area, resulting in other statues like The Lady of Capestrano, two lithic bases, and 33

tombs A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

being found. The statue was found in the territory of the

Vestini () were an Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo (central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near modern L'Aquila), ''Aufinum ''(Ofena), ''Pe ...

, but depicts a man with a Picentine helmet. Investigation subsequent to the statue's discovery revealed that the vineyard where the statue was found was situated above an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

cemetery.

Description

Archaeology

References

See also