The most important exhibit in the Archaeology section is thegrave goods from a Lepontine community of Ornavasso. The Leponti, who settled in a territory which today is the Ossola valley and the Swiss part of Lake Maggiore, were part of the extensive cultural group of the Golasecca civilisation, the members of which in ancient times acted as middlemen between the Etruscans and the Celtic tribes on the northern side of the Alps. In September 1890, excavation work to complete the Novara-Domodossola railway turned up a number of archaeological finds in an area near Ornavasso, close to the San Bernardo oratory. The Ornavasso scholar Enrico Bianchetti co-ordinated the recovery of the objects, also digging in the “In Persona” area slightly to the north. Excavation lasted from 1890 to 1893, leading to the discovery of two separate necropolises.
The necropolis of San Bernardo testifies to the most ancient stages of habitation in Ornavasso, dating between the second half of the 2nd and the first half of the 1st century B.C.
The necropolis found in the “In Persona” area is from a chronological standpoint a continuation of the earlier one, used from the second half of the 1st century B.C.
The grave goods include sets of pottery and bronze vessels, tools, coins, weapons, jewels, clay ointment pots.
The most important exhibit in the Archaeology section is the grave goods from a Lepontine community of Ornavasso. The Leponti, who settled in a territory which today is the Ossola valley and the Swiss part of Lake Maggiore, were part of the extensive cultural group of the Golasecca civilisation, the members of which in ancient times acted as middlemen between the Etruscans and the Celtic tribes on the northern side of the Alps. In September 1890, excavation work to complete the Novara-Domodossola railway turned up a number of archaeological finds in an area near Ornavasso, close to the San Bernardo oratory. The Ornavasso scholar Enrico Bianchetti co-ordinated the recovery of the objects, also digging in the “In Persona” area slightly to the north. Excavation lasted from 1890 to 1893, leading to the discovery of two separate necropolises.
