Archaeological finds along Reggio Emilia’s North Bypass: discoveries

Archaeological finds along Reggio Emilia’s North Bypass

Construction for the extension of the North Bypass (SS9) has brought to light archaeological evidence spanning from the Bronze Age to the Renaissance. Preventive archaeology checks and supervised excavations coordinated by the Superintendence have produced new data for research and local heritage promotion.

The over-six-kilometre infrastructure project—including underpasses, viaducts and wildlife crossings—was accompanied by in-field controls that turned the construction site into a significant scientific opportunity.

• Terramara villages reinforced with fresh documentation confirming the importance of the Po Plain in the Bronze Age;
• Etruscan-era remains from organized Iron Age communities;
• Roman-period features: wells, drainage channels, burials and a north–south oriented road;
• Renaissance traces such as the remains of a furnace;
• Movable finds: a bronze dagger, a bone tool, an Etruscan drinking cup (kantharos) and a glass balsamarium recovered from a Roman tomb.

To share the outcomes with the public, a first exhibition is planned: by the end of 2026 the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia will host a display of the most significant finds, accompanied by panels, reconstructions, guided tours and outreach events.

The agreement signed on 2026-04-07 between the Superintendence for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape (provinces of Modena, Reggio and Ferrara), Anas Emilia-Romagna and the Municipality of Reggio aims to balance infrastructure development with heritage protection. Finds will be stored in a new municipal archaeological repository, undergoing conservation, cataloguing and diagnostic analyses; research results will be published in a final report.

These discoveries demonstrate how land planning has deep historical roots and how preventive archaeology can help safeguard collective memory while contemporary works proceed.