Two male members of the local elite received separate burials – from the second half of the Fourth Century BCE onwards – within a monumental chamber tomb in Lavello, formerly known as Forentum. To make room for the second deposition, part of the first set of goods (a shield, a pair of bronze ankle guards and some vases), together with the skeletal remains of the deceased, were removed and stacked in a corner of the tomb in accordance with Daunian funerary custom.
The more recently deceased occupant, portrayed as a knight and accompanied by an exotic "button" helmet (of the so-called Montefortino type), was buried with a very rich set of goods, including precious Canosian ceremonial vases.
The inclusion of a helmet typical of the Etruscan-Roman infantry within the tomb of an Apulian knight testifies to a change in the manner of self-representation for the local aristocracy, as well as to a strong cultural hybridization – both pointing to more frequent contacts between Rome and other Italic populations as it expanded into the south-east of the Peninsula.