Anime Longobarde: Identità, Famiglia e Territorio nelle sepolture altomedievali di Collegno (VI-VIII secolo)

The centuries of the early Middle Ages were marked by strong political and social changes. The study of this period has made use of the sources – often sparse – available, namely documentary and archaeological ones. In Piedmont, whose quantity of documents available is relatively scarce, in the last 20 years the quality and quantity of excavations has increased progressively. In this context, the archaeological element has become predominant and can be used to give important information on the extra-urban territory and on the types of relationships that were woven. This work aims to integrate the knowledge gained from the study of archaeological and historical sources, those obtained from the recent genetic analysis of the necropolis of Collegno. They have made possible to reconstruct an extremely complex and heterogeneous social framework and can be contextualized in a broader territorial context. The main objective is to identify the functions of the necropolis and its role in the composition of the rural territory. The Piedmontese necropolis does not seem to be the reflection of a homogeneous community, but a meeting place for many forms of social and parental aggregations scattered over an area with a low population density. The available data suggest that they have constituted one of the elements of polarization of the territory, replacing declining urban centers. Their use has made them places where the communication strategies of competition were manifested, but also of cooperation and reunification of biologically inhomogeneous communities.