In March 2005, construction works on the outskirts of Noceto brought to light one of the most significant archaeological finds of the past few decades.
3,500 years ago, in the Middle Bronze Age, while Egypt was ruled by the great pharaohs and the Mycenaean civilization was flourishing in mainland Greece, the Po Valley saw the rise and development of the Terramare culture.
It this context, a community of farmers built, on the top of a small hill near present-day Noceto, a stunning wooden tank measuring 12 metres in length, almost 7 in width and at least 3 in depth.
Once completed, the tank was filled with water and hundreds of ritual offerings were placed inside it, including vases and other stone and terracotta objects, cut branches and animal bones, as well as a great number of artefacts made of wood and plant fibres.
Noceto Votive Tank is therefore absolutely unique, not only for its impressive wooden structure – completely reassembled inside the Museum – but also for the extraordinary artefacts now on display, among which are five, exceptionally rare wooden ploughs.
Noceto Votive Tank Museum brings us back to the deep and mysterious roots of Bronze Age culture and helps us to shed light on both the material and non-material world of our ancestors, giving visitors an unprecedented opportunity to penetrate the fascinating realm of past beliefs and spirituality, which is often impossible to discern.
