Museo archeologico nazionale di Campli

The museum is located in some rooms of the old convent of San Francesco, it was founded between the 13th and the 14th century.The access is through a porch where it is still possible to admire the fine double arched windows and the polylobate portal that leads to the old Chapter House.This museum, ideated by the first Superintendent Valerio Cianfarani to host the prestigious findings of the Campovalano necropolis from the excavations started in 1967, was inaugurated in 1989.Through graphical and environmental reconstructions, the exhibit outlines the evolution of the funeral ritual of the Pretuzia ethnic minority in the Middle Adriatic or Piceno cultural sphere.In the first room, "Campovalano before the Italics", it is possible to understand the daily life of the villages during the Bronze Age and chiefly in the 14th and 13th centuries. This section also includes the tomb of a little girl (9th century B.C.), found in the area of Coccioli. The next rooms are completely dedicated to the necropolis of Campovalano and host exhibitions of tomb furnishings and reconstructions that show the evolution of ritual burials in the Pretuzii area (rooms 2-9 "The first burial in Campovalano - Signs of Wealth – Sons of the Aristocracy – The Reconstruction of tomb 2: the tomb of a King - Social Differences - Aspects of Female Life - a Rich Adolescent - the Age of Crisis”).In the anthropological section, the bone fragments analyzed provide valuable information on sex, illnesses, trauma, malformations and the age of death.The area dedicated to innovations contains a display of the rich goods of a young aristocrat which include many fine jewels such as a precious necklace in gold leaf beads, a piece associated with the culture of Magna Grecia, and silver bracelets of Celtic tradition.Connected to the Archaeological Museum of Campli that exposes the findings, is the archaeological area of Campovalano, located in Campli, where 621 burial plots were discovered: the most ancient one is characterized by large tumuli enclosed by stone circles.