It is quite difficult for us to believe that Sassello was completely abandoned by its people in the period following prehistory until the first centuries of this millennium, when the first documents mentioning it appear.
Unfortunately, the now well-known lack of archaeological excavations prevents us from reconstructing this "void" that has so intrigued local scholars.
However, some intermediate evidence remains:
A collection of 8 pre-Roman "drachma" coins, part of the Andrea Pautasso collection, donated by the foundation bearing his name to the archaeological museum of Aosta.
Unfortunately, nothing is known about the precise place of discovery, except that they come from the "Sassello hoard", they are part of the Po Valley (Piedmontese) coinage minted between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC by peoples settled in Northern Italy, on the obverse is depicted the head of the goddess Artemis, their weight ranges from 2.33 to 3.09 grams.
Two Roman coins, displayed in the section's showcase, the best known is an "Alexandrian nummus of Probus", Marcus Aurelius Probus Roman emperor from 277 to 282, minted in Alexandria, Egypt and part of the colonial coinage of the empire, donated by Mr. Giancarlo Alisio of Sassello.
Diodorus Siculus himself, 50 BC, a writer who lived in the time of Augustus, left us some writings that seem to reflect the living conditions of the Ligurian mountain people in these areas "...they inhabit a stony and utterly barren land...the country is mountainous and full of trees; the mountains are covered with snow...to cultivate the land they must break stones...they continually go hunting, facing incredible differences in elevation...they eat the meat of both domestic and wild animals, compensating for the scarcity of fruits...they spend the night in the fields, rarely in a hut, more often in cavities in the rock...the women are strong and vigorous like the men and the men like wild beasts..."
It is certain that when the Romans conquered inland Liguria, at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, they encountered the "Liguri Statielli", a population settled between the Stura and the Bormida. Titus Livius, a historian of those times, recounts that the Statielli had their main seat in the fortified city of Caristo (oppidum Carystum), where they were routed and massacred by the legionaries of the consul Marcus Popilius Laenas in 173 BC; subsequently, following the atrocities of that conquest, the Senate ordered the same consul to release the survivors who settled in a new location on the left bank of the Bormida, which later became a Roman municipality, called Aquae Statiellae or Aquae Statiellorum, today Acqui Terme.
As mentioned, the section does not offer much evidence from that period, but you can still admire a small collection of pre-Roman and Roman material thanks to a donation of unknown origin (perhaps from Otricoli).
Roman Period
and... collection
A collection... within the collection
Of particular interest is a small collection of finds perhaps originating from the territory of ancient Otricoli, the lively Umbrian town rich in history located along the Via Flaminia on the border with Lazio.
The material on display in the museum, rather heterogeneous, includes about ten artifacts; lacking precise data relating to the discovery and excavation context, it is currently possible to provide a description of the pieces themselves with chronological indications limited to a reference period.
The collection includes some examples of pottery (two complete finds of Campanian black-glazed ceramics, everyday ceramics and various fragments), some oil lamps, a pilaster capital and a decorated bronze fragment. The variety and type of artifacts suggest that most of them come from funerary goods of different tombs.
The pieces have intrinsic documentary value as a significant contribution to the knowledge of the degree of development of the place of origin in the period between the Greek age and the first century of the Roman Empire. Some of them, due to the excellent quality of the workmanship and especially the excellent state of preservation, deserve particular attention.
In this regard, interesting is the example of the late Protocorinthian olpe (7th century BC), made of chamois-colored clay, with a ribbon handle surmounted by a wheel that was originally covered with the same brown glaze still visible on the mouth, neck, as well as the lower belly and foot of the vase. The same color tone is used in the pairs of continuous lines that delimit the central decorated area; in it, on the light background, stand out the bodies of two animals created with a skillful chromatic play of glazes in brown and red tones.
For greater definition of the figures, a sgraffito drawing is used, chosen for the realization of details such as the beast's muzzle, the shoulder blade, the articulation of the legs as well as the fillers due to horror vacui.
Among the noteworthy ceramic material is also an unguentarium, whose globular body is refined and elongated by a wide curved handle that presents on the outer surface the same dark glaze as the lip, neck, and the figures in the ornamental scene. The depiction shows, in the act of confronting each other, two warriors with spears standing out against the neutral background in a harmonious balance of volumes; on the sides of the scene stand two trees as a landscape feature; irregular dotting with the tip of a brush as fillers complete the overall picture, delimited by stereotyped vertical drop patterns at the top and checkerboard at the bottom. The vase rests on a shaped ring foot that recalls the neutral tone of the background.
It is also appropriate to mention a marble pilaster capital (datable between the 1st century BC - 1st century AD) adorned with vegetal decorations; from the central acanthus leaves rises a cauliculus that curls at the ends and ends in a calyx occupying the abacus. The ornamental scheme is completed by two volutes that, unwinding from the central cauliculus, decorate the capital ending in two modest spirals.
Among the oil lamps, particular attention is deserved by a monolichne with an undecorated disc, with an elongated spout and open channel; on the back is stamped, still clearly legible, the maker's mark: CRESCES. This mark is very common in Cisalpine Italy but rarer in central Italy.
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock of various compositions consisting of chlorite schists, talc schists, or ultrabasic rocks, whose extraction and processing centers have so far been identified in the northwestern and central Alpine arc.
Its use has been documented in the Alpine area since protohistory (lamps, casting molds), but only in Roman times was it used for what is its main asset, namely its use in cooking as a fire-resistant container.
The traditional production of soapstone artifacts must be recognized in two operational phases: extraction and shaping.
Extraction usually took place in the good season, considering the high altitude at which the deposits are generally located—so far identified in more than 400 sites—and relied solely on human muscular energy without the aid of machines. The blocks already prepared for subsequent processing were transported to more accessible places that allowed for year-round working.
For processing, hydraulic power was also used to operate a heavy horizontal lathe.
In-depth analyses of finds from archaeological excavations or surface collections in Alpine areas, where their presence is obviously greater, have made it possible to distinguish at least four production techniques:
Hand shaping
identifiable by traces of points and chisels spread over the entire surface, chronologically not earlier than the 1st century AD, continuing throughout the 2nd century, also found in funerary artifacts discovered in 4th-century tombs.
Finishing with a lathe
a technique probably achieved with a potter's wheel or a hand lathe, is attributed to the same period as the previous one
Shaping individual vessels on a horizontal lathe
the shape formed on the lathe—more widespread from the 3rd century AD to the 6th century—(subcylindrical and truncated conical), the frequent presence of bands or strips sometimes very protruding whose execution involves a significant increase in the thickness of the material being worked, the deepening of the turning of the internal base for about two-thirds of the diameter necessary to detach the residual core, the presence of the recess for the counterpoint of the lathe in numerous residual cores, are among the main characteristics of this technique
Shaping multiple vessels on a horizontal lathe (onion method)
a technique well documented by written and iconographic sources starting from the 17th century, which consists in reusing the residual core, properly detached, in order to obtain a second and sometimes a third container.
In Liguria, evidence of soapstone artifacts has been documented since the end of the 4th century AD, while the period of greatest diffusion is the 6th century.
The continuation of research and further study of the forms and techniques will lead to a better understanding of these artifacts, which have been appreciated for their particular functionality for two millennia.