Italian archaeologists on Tuesday announced the unprecedented discovery of more than two dozen ancient bronze statues, recovered from the mud of ancient sacred hot springs in Tuscany in nearly perfect condition two millennia later.
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According to Italy’s Ministry of Culture, the statues represent deities worshiped at the San Cassiano di Bagni sanctuary, founded during the Etruscan period under the Romans.
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A three-year excavation at the site, which attracts visitors for its thermal waters, has unearthed offerings as well as around 000 gold, silver and bronze coins.
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It is a discovery “without parallel” that sheds light on the period between 200 BC and 100 AD when these bronzes were melted, hailed Jacopo Tabollini, an expert on the Etruscan era who leads the project.
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“The Tuscan site contains the largest volume of Etruscan and Roman age bronze statues ever found in ancient Italy and is one of the most important in the entire Mediterranean region,” adds Mr Tabolli.
“This is unprecedented, especially since so far mainly terracotta statues are known from this period,” he said. Apollo or Hygeus, the god of health in Greek mythology, is represented by San Cassiano.
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The hot waters preserved the excavated pieces so well that Etruscan and Latin inscriptions are still visible, including the names of powerful Etruscan families.
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“This is certainly one of the most important discoveries of bronzes in the history of the ancient Mediterranean”, Massimo Ossanna, General Director of the Italian State Museums, also emphasized, and two Greek sculptures from the warriors or bronzes of Rheas were found. 1972 in southern Italy and dated to the 5th century BC.
A bronze found in Tuscany will be at the heart of a future new museum, which will eventually be complemented by an archaeological park.
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