Ancient bronze statues could ‘rewrite history’
Find may shed light on time of transition
Dozens of beautifully preserved, 2,000-year-old bronze statues were found in what Italian authorities are calling an “exceptional” discovery from a sacred thermal spring that will “rewrite history.”
More than 60 experts will examine the 24 figurines, which were protected by mud in the sacred baths of the San Casciano dei Bagni, a hilltop town in the Siena province about 100 miles north of Rome, the Italian Culture Ministry announced Tuesday.
The bronzes, which were found in a perfect state of conservation alongside 5,000 gold, silver and bronze coins, include entire figures of deities, individual body parts and organs. The ancient Greek god and goddess of health, Apollo and Igea, are depicted in some statues as well.
The objects will give experts a better understanding of transition from the Etruscan civilization to the expansion of the Roman Empire, a period marked by war and conflict across central Italy between the second and first centuries B.C., dig coordinator Jacopo Tabolli said.
Museums director-general Massimo Osanna described the artifacts as “the most significant bronzes ever found in the history of the ancient Mediterranean” and the most important since the Riace bronze warriors underwater discovery in 1972.
Despite ancient conflict across what is today’s Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio regions, both Etruscan and Latin are inscribed on the statues, pointing to evidence that Etruscan and Roman families prayed together in the springs.
“While there were social and civil wars being fought outside the sanctuary ... inside the sanctuary the great elite Etruscan and Roman families prayed together in a context of peace surrounded by conflict,” Tabolli said. “This possibility to rewrite the relationship and dialectic between the Etruscan and Romans is an exceptional opportunity.”
The ministry will build a new museum to house the antiquities.