Ancient Civilisations of Basilicata

The exhibition Ancient Civilisations of Basilicata - Treasures Emerging to Light - 11th-6th Centuries B.C. originates from the project Il racconto della bellezza (The Tale of Beauty), the result of a cooperation between the Ministry of Culture (Directorate General for Museums) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy), aimed at actions to promote and enhance Italian material and immaterial heritage abroad. The exhibition traces the history of a territory, that of ancient Basilicata, in its material evidence prior to the arrival of the Greeks, and then the culture of the Enotri, the ancient Italic people who inhabited the southern part of the region between the 9th and 6th centuries BC. The objects selected in the exhibition - first and foremost admirable grave goods with bronze and amber jewellery - refer to the funerary contexts of the main Oenotrian centres and constitute a primary tool for understanding the social life and geography of trade of these peoples, before and during colonisation.