The National Archaeological Museum of the Upper Val d'Agri

A journey through time in the heart of the Lucanian Apennines

The National Archaeological Museum of the Upper Val d'Agri was created as the natural culmination of a long history of discoveries which, starting with the identification of the Grumentum site in the 17th century, have given a voice to one of the oldest and most stratified areas of Basilicata. From the first occasional finds that emerged during agricultural work, to the local collections that are now partly dispersed, to the systematic excavations that began in the 20th century, the Museum is the result of a patient and shared journey. The work of Dinu Adamesteanu, the first Superintendent of Antiquities of Basilicata, was fundamental. In 1969, he began a systematic scientific exploration of the urban area of Grumentum, which was then continued with rigour and continuity.

Located in Contrada Spineta in Grumento Nova and inaugurated in 1995, the museum stands above the remains of the southern necropolis of the Roman city and blends harmoniously with the archaeological park, whose garden is crossed by an evocative section of the ancient Roman aqueduct. The museum building, designed in the 1980s, is conceived as a living place of welcome, study and conservation: exhibition spaces, storage rooms, restoration workshops, educational areas and a library accompany visitors along a path that tells the story of the Upper Val d'Agri from the Pleistocene to the early Middle Ages.

The story begins in the distant prehistoric past, when the valley was occupied by a large lake basin. The fossil remains of Elephas antiquus, equids and other species bear witness to a completely different landscape, populated by large mammals over a hundred thousand years ago. This first chapter is accompanied by geological and palaeontological materials that illustrate the natural evolution of the territory, enriching the historical narrative with an environmental one.

The Bronze Age is represented by finds from hilltop sites and seasonal settlements linked to transhumance, such as Civita di Paterno and Murgia Sant'Angelo di Moliterno. The simple and functional pottery tells the story of a daily life marked by the rhythms of sheep farming and community life. With the Archaic and Lucanian periods, the narrative becomes more complex and conveys the image of a structured society, divided by differences in role and status. The funerary objects from Marsico Nuovo and Montemurro, including weapons, ornaments, banquet vases and refined red-figure pottery, testify to the existence of an aristocratic elite and a culture deeply embedded in the circuits of the ancient Mediterranean.

Particularly evocative is the section dedicated to the sacred sphere, with votive offerings from the rural sanctuary of San Marco, on the outskirts of Grumentum. The terracotta statuettes, linked to the cult of a female deity possibly identifiable with Mefite, evoke a world of beliefs connected with fertility, nature and chthonic forces, revealing the deep bond between the inhabitants and the surrounding landscape.

The heart of the museum is dedicated to the Roman city of Grumentum, founded in the 3rd century BC after the Roman conquest of the territory. Statues, inscriptions, architectural elements and everyday objects reconstruct the public and private face of the city. Highlights include the refined marble head of Livia Drusilla, symbol of imperial power, the armoured bust of a general, statues from the baths and the precious ivory pyx with a Dionysian scene, emblem of luxury and culture. Alongside these masterpieces, celebratory and funerary epigraphs, together with a rich collection of medals, reveal names, stories and fragments of life, making Grumentum a city once again inhabited by memory.

The exhibition extends to late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, with evidence of the reuse and transformation of spaces, such as the decorated sarcophagus recovered from the small church of San Laverio and the early medieval grave goods found near the church of San Marco. Sealing this long journey through time, the late medieval bas-relief of the young martyr Laverio combines faith, history and local identity.

Today, the National Archaeological Museum of the Upper Val d'Agri is not only a place of conservation, but a narrative space that intertwines nature, history and community. Through permanent collections, temporary exhibitions and cultural activities, it continues to recount the profound soul of a territory that, for millennia, has been a crossroads of peoples, landscapes and civilisations.