Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 February 1910 — BELMONTE PICENO FIND. [ARTICLE]

BELMONTE PICENO FIND.

Prof. Delloaao’S Discovery, While Valuable, la Damaged Badly. The more detailed reports furnished by Prof. Dellosso on the tomb which he had discovered in Belmonte Plceno is a little disappointing, as it reveals a fact which he omitted to mention in his first telegram—namely, that the objects found were in a very damaged condition. Although, with the exception of there being no golj ornaments, the tomb was almost as rich in contents as the famous Etruscan tombs of Palestrina and Cervetri, the bronze vessels and other objects were for the most part broken or badly crushed by the weight of the earth fallen upon therm However, even so, the Rome correspondent of the London Times says, the find is of very considerable interest.

Xf will be possible to put together the complete remains of five bigoe, of each of which have been found the antyx, the frame,- the circles of the wheels and the spokes, all in hollow bronze. One of them, smaller than the other four, seems to have been of a highly ornamental character. A very curious cuirass was found, the breastplate and backplate of leather covered with thin bronze plates and attached to each other with bronze shoulder fastenings. Four helmets, greaves for the legs and nine lances, with some short swords in their sheaths —the latter of wood, which has disappeared almost entirely—complete the armor, which is in very fair coalition of preseravtion. The tomb must have been of some chieftain, as traces of only one skeleton have been found. Prof. Dellosso is inclined to date it about the seventh century B. C.« It was, of course, to be expected that all the wooden parts of the chariots and arms should have gone to powder, and, fortunately, it would seem that in their case there will be little difficulty in putting the bronze remains in place again. But it is most unlucky that the bronze vessels, some of which seem to be of a very rare form, should have been so broken and crushed. The fragments, of which there are a very large number, indicate very fine workmanship and a civilization on the coast of the Adriatic fully as advanced as that on the coast of Greece.