Antenati, “eroi”, nemici. Sepolture e resti umani in alcuni abitati dell’età del Bronzo nell’Italia peninsulare

The finding of human remains inside the Bronze Age settlements of the Italian peninsula is not so frequent, but their presence in some of them is an element of great interest. It can be variously interpreted. The ways of treatment of the human remains are different, also inside the same settlement: there are real burials, also with grave goods (for example inside the posterns of the walls at Coppa Nevigata - Foggia), whole skeletons to link to fortuitous death because of their context (for examples the individuals unearthed inside a postern of the walls of Roca Vecchia - Lecce) and sporadic bones in specific areas of the settlement. The differences are to relate to the conditions of death, to the funerary rituals and, first of all, to the categories of individuals (as ancestors, «heroes», enemies) that were variously treated on the occasion of their burial. Author aims at outlining the different patterns of behaviour (to link to specific meanings) in the archaeological contexts taken into consideration.