Museo Archeologico Statale di Cingoli

The National Archaeological Museum of Cingoli occupies the ground floor and basement of the Palazzo Comunale. Its collections trace the region from the Paleolithic through the Roman period, with a focus on the Bronze Age settlement at Moscosi–Piano di Fonte Marcosa and the ancient city of Cingulum.

Why it matters

The museum grew from finds recovered during archaeological work ahead of the Castriccioni dam in the 1980s. The Moscosi–Piano di Fonte Marcosa settlement shows activity from the Bronze Age to the Roman era. Its waterlogged ground preserved a wooden lattice floor, a rare archaeological survival in the Marche. The museum brings these finds together with material from across the Cingolano territory.

What to notice

The Fonte Marcosa collection includes a wooden-beam lattice from a dwelling floor, along with daggers, axes and antler hoes that document Bronze Age crafts and metallurgy. Other sections include Paleolithic finds from the Marche and material from the sanctuary area of San Vittore, in use from the sixth century BCE into the early imperial period. The museum also presents finds from Pian della Pieve and Borgo San Lorenzo, associated respectively with a probable Roman prefecture and the site of Cingulum. In the Roman section are a limestone statue of Attis and inscriptions that document the municipium.

Context and history

The museum was established in the early 1990s in the Palazzo Comunale and expanded in 1997 with prehistoric, protohistoric and Roman material from the wider territory. The finds from Moscosi–Piano di Fonte Marcosa were recovered during the 1980s before the valley was affected by the Castriccioni dam. The Roman city of Cingulum is associated with Titus Labienus, a figure linked to its late-Republican rebuilding. The museum presents the settlement history of the Cingolano through material from its archaeological sites.