Copper Age
The success of metallurgy
mid-4th – 3rd millennia B.C.
The earliest Copper Age pieces in Modena date back to the 4th – 3rd millennia B.C. and come primarily from burial sites. The production of copper objects is limited to weapons such as daggers, halberds and axes, which were possessed by high-ranking warriors, as demonstrated by the grave goods of these new social figures.
The ceramics that accompany the burials belong to a culture known as “Spilamberto Group” and are characterized by simple-shaped vases with “scaly” surfaces and by more refined mugs or pitchers.
Other funerary evidence comes from Cumarola, Fiorano, Campegine and Savignano sul Panaro, while residential areas have been discovered in San Cesario sul Panaro, Spilamberto and Formigine.
In the latter phase of the Copper Age, the presence of a “bell beaker vessel” was documented. This type of receptacle appears to have been widespread throughout a broad swathe of Europe at the time and constitutes material evidence of a large network for the exchange of products, ideas and technology.