The Canegrate culture was a civilization of prehistoric Italy that developed in the late Bronze Age (13th century BC), in the areas that are now western Lombardy, eastern Piedmont, and Ticino. Canegrate had a cultural dynamic, as expressed in its pottery and bronzework, that was completely new to the area and was a typical example of the western Hallstatt culture. Most researchers associate the Canegrate horizon with early Celtic languages. The association between the Canegrate culture and the Celts is corroborated by the distribution of inscriptions dating back to the 6th-5th century BC which makes its Celtic nature almost certain.
The name comes from the locality of Canegrate in Lombardy, south of Legnano and 25 km north of Milan, where Guido Sutermeister discovered important archaeological finds (approximately 50 tombs with ceramics and metallic objects). The site was first excavated in 1926 in the area of Rione Santa Colomba, and systematic excavation occurred between March 1953 and autumn 1956, which led to the discovery of a necropolis of 165 tomb. It is one of the richer archeological sites of Northern Italy.
