Otherwise San Casciano seems like a pleasant Tuscan town, plenty of old stone buildings and charming little squares.San Casciano is in the news because of recent archaeological discoveries. Archaeologists had been poking around the place for centuries, but had never really delved into the heart of the ancient bath complex until 2019. (Notice the telescoping poles put in place to keep the walls from falling on the excavators. Very proper.)
Aerial view of the excavated area.What they found was a series of at least two ancient temples: an earlier Etruscan one and then a later Roman construction dating to around 150 BC. I believe this is the earlier sanctuary.Not surprisingly, they found many coins; the habit of throwing coins into sacred pools is very ancient.But, most wonderfully, they found that when the old Etruscan temple was replaced, the builders carried out a complex rededication ritual that involved burying every part of the old temple beneath the new. The buried material included an amazing array of bronze statues, which were remarkably well preserved.
Amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment