Parre

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Site
Postal Code: I-24020
Province: Bergamo
Region: Lombardia
Country: Italy
Coordinates: 45° 52' 20.65" N, 9° 53' 17.07" E
Website: search for "Parre" on it.wikipedia.org

Field names: Parre Castello
Objects: BG·15 Parre (spindle whorl), BG·16 Parre (pot), BG·17 Parre (unidentifiable), BG·18 Parre (pot), BG·19 Parre (unidentifiable)


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Commentary

Modern Parre is the site of the prehistoric settlement Parra, which is mentioned by Pliny (Nat. Hist. III, 124 f.): in hoc situ interiit oppidum Oromobiorum Parra, unde Bergomates, etiamnum prodente se altius quam fortunatius situm ('In that place has vanished the Orobian oppidum Parra, whence come the Bergomates, still showing itself at a higher and more favourable site.'). (See Ardovino 2007 on the dubious entity, the Orobi, and their name.) Parra, situated on a fluvial plain in the Valseriana at the confluence of Serio and the river of Valle Tossana (580 m a.s.l.), was founded in the late Bronze Age and settled continuously until the Roman conquest. The Iron Age oppidum was situated on the site of the Castello, while the oldest (Bronze Age) strata were excavated some 150 m north on the Botti property – the settlement may have migrated to a higher and more easily defendable place, or possibly the Bronze Age structures are metal-working buildings outside the settlement proper. There is evidence for metallurgy and ceramic production. From the early Iron Age, the finds – pottery, bronze, glass, stone and bone – and also the structures (case retiche) indicate an association with the inner-Alpine area, viz. the Breno-Dos dell'Arca group and the Laugen-Melaun and later Fritzens-Sanzeno culture. The settlement flourished in the late 6th and 5th century BC when it came under the influence of the Golasecca culture following the foundation of Bergamo, though the majority of finds remains associated with Alpine traditions. Towards the late Iron Age (2nd c. BC), Padan (Gaulish and eventually Roman) influences become stronger. For details, see Poggiani Keller 1985, Poggiani Keller 1999, and especially Poggiani Keller 2007: 153–163.