La comunità sociale da famiglia a villaggio: analisi archeologica e bioarcheologica delle sepolture della Sardegna

Cemetery areas can be considered as unlimited sources of information for the past societies, not only in biological, but also in social way. In fact, they are a reflection of society's perception of the death and of itself; a directed line between the city of the dead and the city of the living. Starting from this idea, the aim of this research is understanding if and how much this correlation is real and, therefore, if the city of the death changed as the city of the living chaged. For this aim, we had analyzed two different cemeteries areas, both in the municipality of Alghero, but from two different historical ages: roman imperial necropolis burials from Monte Carru and two phases of the medieval cemetery of San Michele. Anthropological and archaeological data were intersected in the map to understand the potential correlation between them and the topographic progression of the area. Chronology, biological profile and, where possible, genetic data were compared to identify the presence of groups or subdivisions. Results had been interpreted based on social focus, known by sources. For the roman necropolis of Monte Carru, anthropological topographic data suggest a development related to family concept (familia or gens), but this hypothesis is almost completely retracted from genetic data. For the medieval cemetery of San Michele, analyzed in two different phases, related to Yersinia pestis and the successive time, had a similar development, even if related to two different situations. The positions of individuals, also related with their biological profile, could be attributed to the concept of family, in relatives way. In absence of genetic results for this area, is not allowed at the moment a denial or a confirmation of this hypothesis. In general, for both areas, the influence of the community seems to be stronger than family influence. “All the same in front of the death, all part of the same community”