[MR] New Book on Lombard Cemetery

[Garth Groff]

Noble friends,

Just received at the UVA Fine Arts Library: [IL] TESORO DI SPILAMBERTO: 
SIGNORI LOMGOBARDI ALLA FRONTIERA, a cura di Andrea Breda (no ISBN; OCLC 
# 741557547; our call # DG975 .S7437 T47 2010).

This book (99 pages) is a catalog of a cemetery excavation from the town 
of Spilamberto in Modena, Italy. This town was a minor military outpost 
during the Lombard invasion of Italy at the end of the 6th century, 
extending possibily into the 7th or even 8th century. The graves of 
three warriors were found, complete with their swords and other military 
gear. The real treasures, however, mostly came from the graves of women 
who were buried with incredible jewelry. Other finds include lamps, 
jars, and other household items. The most incredible finds are 
glassware, both goblets and some really fantastic glass drinking horns. 
What makes this book especially useful are renderings of both male and 
female clothing. Not surprisingly, Lombards of the time dressed pretty 
much like other Dark Ages Europeans such as Celts and Vikings: belted 
tunic over a shirt, leggings, cloak, and yes, shoes.

Now, here's the bad part: except for a two-page English introduction, 
the book is in Italian. Sorry. If you don't read Italian, you can still 
enjoy the illustrations and maps (all in color). Some work with a 
dictionary might help. If you read French or Spanish, you can probably 
muddle through enough to get the gist. Key words in Italian really 
aren't that hard.

For you Dark Ages fans, this book would be well worth borrowing via 
interlibrary loan through your local branch.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir's Unofficial Librarian
(aka Garth Groff, UVA Library cataloger)