Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-22

/
here that to form the two sepulchral
chambers it had been found necessary
to destroy one or more older tombs.
In the roof of the second cham ber
also was found hole, across which
was to be seen the ossuary for Gre
mated bones, usual in the oldest
times. Its bottom had been broken
off by the roof of the newer burial
chamber, but the contents had
been treated with due respect
and left intact. In another case,
while digging, an old po1zo tomd had
been damaged, cutting off part of the
upper wall, but here also an attempt
was made to repair the injury by wall
ing up the aperture with stones, and
50 in other cases. This intrusion OF
later builders does not, however,
prove, as has been claimed by some,
that they were hostile race, but can
be explained by the great lapse OF
time, during which the earlier bury
ing grounds would be lost sight Of
an explanation the men readily
accepted, since not the slight
est indications have been found
that the old tomb pozzo had
any visible monuments above
ground. In some rare cases, it is
true, the lapse of time may have
weakened the feeling OF reverence and
so have caused the destruction of the
sepulchres of long before. 1t is in
teresting that the large fibul@ of gold
with their developed forms found in
the more recent tombs resemble in
style those found in the most ancient.
They testify to the great lenght OF
time which elapsed and the holding
off to these forms, even after the
fibul1 in actual use had received
much more modern shapes, forces to
the conclusion that they were fabri-
Gated especially for burial and sacred
purposes. Still further contirmatory
of this uninterrupted connection is
the finding of inscriptions on uessels
in ancient tombs, as at Volci, show
ing that the oldest type OF tom bs
was in vogue even after the introduc-
ton of the alphabet. Following up
the analogies Of these most ancient
tombs of Corneto throughout Italy,
which he finds to be of astonishing
extent, Undset then discusses the
origin of this group aud the mode in
which it was formed and extended.
Here the first inquiry is whether
these regions offer anything from an
epoch still older which could possibly
give the incentive to and furnish the
germs of this growth. These more
ancient remains seem to be those
found in north Italy in the lake
dwellings and pfahlba'den OF the
age of bronze; here the cremated
bones are in ossuaries, sometimes
with vases and utensils OF bronze,
similar to those of the oldest tombs at
Bologna. While it is not possible to
enter fully into the subject here, it
may suffice to say that the widely-ex-
tended prehistoric civilization traces
of which have been found so ex-
tensively in Central Eastern Europe,
as in Hungary, marks a movement
from north to south, and formed the
remote antecedent of the oldest
necropoli of Italy. In tracing the
connection of the objects found, we
look outside OF Italy. Here Olympia
in Greece first claims attention with
its numerous objects in metal, brought
to light in recent years, which
present a great variety of forms
already recognized in Italy.
So also the Attic necrop-
oils, the Dipylon, yielded objects ana
logous to those OF Italy. They are
also found in the remote Caucasus, in
the Troas, Cyprus and North Africa.
The necropoli OF Kameiros and Italy
sis, on the Island of Rhodes, have
furnished many objects perfectly cor
responding to the ancient group in
Italy. This coincidence in the finds
in tombs on the coastlands on the
Mediterranean, as well as other
reasons, lead at once to the thought
that the Phenicians were the media
tors of this diffusion. The influence
of foreign importations in
Utruscan arts, so marked in later
times, can be traced also in the oldest
tombs pozzo, as seen in few scarabs,
the glass pearls, and other small OBJ
iects found at Corneto, Bologna, etc.
| The architectural style is also under
foreign influence. This is evident in
the transmutations of Egyptian and
Phnnician symbols in fact the same
motives are traceable here as in the
Greek style OF the Attic graves Of the
Dipylon. Thus early Etruscan and
Greek were surrounded by the same
influences, but how different the
growth from the same seed in the
different soils. In fact, it is evident
that foreign influence became so strong
in Etruria as to supplant the older
funeral rite of cremation by the uni
versal Oriental custom of burial.
Before closing l cannot fail to men
ton discovery OF great interest just
made in Rome, beneath the Church
OF st. John and Paul, by the Passion
list father, Pere Germano. Under the
principal altar were found at first two
rooms of Roman house of the fourth
century. On exploring further third
room was uncovered, seven meters
long and four meters wide. Prof.
Gatti judges this, from its position
and size, to be the Tablinium. The
parts which have been exposed show
remarkable paintings. In the Tab
linium, besides the pagan pictures
representing animals, hippocamps,
country scenes, and allegorical decora'
tions, there were also Christian sub
jects. These were, among others,
Moses removing his sandals before as
cending the mountain, scene like
that found at st. Calliste; a woman
in attitude of prayer, dressed in g
dalmatica, having necklace OF pearls
about her head. This is the first in
stance in which Christian paintings
have been found in a noble house
Heretofore we have been confined tC
, the rude productions in the cata
comes from the hands of the perse
cuted early Christians for witnesses
to Christian art of that time in Rome