Twenty-four bronze statues in perfect condition, ex votos and other objects, but also five thousand gold, silver and bronze coins, were recovered from the mud during the excavation of the ancient baths of San Casciano dei Bagni, in the province of Siena, central Italy, considered one of the most significant finds of ancient history.
“A discovery that will rewrite history and on which more than 60 experts from all over the world are already working “, said the Etruscologist in charge of the excavation, Jacopo Tabolliexplaining the new discoveries in the excavation underway since 2019 and which has become the largest deposit of bronze statues from the Etruscan and Roman times ever discovered in Italy and one of the most important in the entire Mediterranean.
The new discovery “is the most important discovery since Riace’s bronzesthe most significant bronzes ever found in the history of the ancient Mediterranean ”, commented in a note the general director of the Italian Museums, Massimo Osanna.
The imposing statues were recovered from the mud of the ancient baths and they represented the deities venerated in the sacred place and with them were also recovered some parts of the body in bronze that were offered to the gods for the curative intervention of the divinity through the thermal waters.
Among the statues recovered from the hot mud are effigies of Hygieia and Apolloas well as a bronze reminiscent of the famous Harringa statue found years ago in Perugia and representing the figure of the orator Aulus MetelloEtruscan senator during the Roman Republic.
The researchers point out that the exceptional state of conservation of the statues inside the baths also allowed it preserves inscriptions in Etruscan and Latin which were recorded prior to its creation.
The inscriptions contain the names of powerful families Etruscans from the territory of internal Etruria, from the Velimna of Perugia to the Marcni, known in Siena. In addition to the Etruscan phrases, Latin inscriptions have also been discovered, which also mention the “aquae calidae”, the thermal springs of Large bathroomwhere the statues were placed.
Probably made by local artisans, the 24 statues, Tabolli explains, date back to an intermediate date 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, a historical period of important transformations in ancient Tuscany, during the passage between the Etruscans and the Romans.
“The sanctuary, with its statues, appears as a research lab on cultural diversity in antiquity, unique testimony of Etruscan and Roman mobility “, added Tabolli, who states that this discovery” is a unique opportunity to rewrite the history of ancient art and with it the history of the passage between Etruscans and Romans in Tuscany “.
The sanctuary, with its basins, sloping terraces, fountains, altars, existed at least from the third century BC and remained active until the fifth century AD. when, in Christian times, it was closed but not destroyed.
The ponds were sealed with heavy stone columnsthus, having removed that lid, the archaeologists found themselves in front of a treasure still intact.
this great sanctuary “seems to be a unique place. A sort of bubble of peace, if we think, that even in historical times when outside there were the most terrible conflicts, inside these cisterns and on these altars the two worlds, the Etruscan and the Latin, seemed to coexist without problems “, he added the archaeologist to the EFE agency.
Source: Clarin
