Ligurno and Angera: two varesina necropolis compared

Abstract

A synthetic and simplified overview of the necropolis of Ligurno (Cantello), near Varese, brought to light in 1872 by the parish priest, Paolo Bergonzoli, is presented. Points of convergence, analogies and differences between the history of Ligurno and that of Angera are highlighted: the same period, the personalities involved, the common heritage of materials. We have considerable written documents  regarding the necropolis of Ligurno, which however, after a period of glory, was ignored, never studied and published. It is made up of cremation and inhumation tombs, dating between the Augustan age and the second half of the 4th century AD. The finds are preserved at the Museo Civico Archeologico di Villa Mirabello in Varese, donated by Bergonzoli. It is a significant and varied number: ceramic vases, bronze and iron objects, armillae, fibulae, a ring, glass, lamps, nails, coins. The only complete example in Lombardy of an African terra sigillata cup, decorated with applied relief, of the Hayes 53A shape of the C3 production (circa 350-430 AD and later), stands out.