Restoration and archaeological excavations of the Longobard Church of The Holy Trinity VI - XVIII Century. Work in progress

Extract from the archaeological survey report:
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The tomb (C1) has evidently been reutilized in time, since, once cleared from the debris, the excavation continued beyond that which seemed the ground bottom, revealing the original interment coeval to the church of the 10th century, perfectly preserved and appertaining to a male individual of high rank and of medium height.

A coin, difficult to identify, but which appears to belong to the early medieval period, was found as part of the furnishing of this burial. The head of this coin is illegible while on the reverse side is partially similar to the “Denier” of Louis the Pious, second issue after 818 a.D, in which case the tomb (C1) could well be backdated to the 9th century, anthropological studies and radio carbonic analysis excepted…
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… due to a slight yielding of the ground below the pavement of the 15th century sanctuary, a survey was carried out from which a part of an antique apsidal structure emerged, almost completely buried in the earth compared to the original ground floor which results in being placed about 1 metre beneath the present floor.

Having eliminated the first hypothesis that it may concern a bell pit, tank, store room or the like, the construction presents unusual characteristics, non known before, and not documented in the literature of similar archaeological excavations.

The hypothesis put forward in the first instance by the architect (Mithraeum?), has been turned down by the archaeologists who, nevertheless, have for the time being classified the construction as “unidentified ritual structure”….