Treasure of Coins, Jewelry, and Ancient Eggs Found in Tuscany
A rich treasure trove that includes bronze statues, gold jewelry and still-intact eggs from Roman and Etruscan times has been unearthed from thermal baths in Italy’s region of Tuscany.
The announcement was made by the Italian Ministry of Culture on Tuesday, November 3, while presenting the newly discovered artifacts at the site of San Casciano Dei Bagni in southern Tuscany. Many were pulled out from the muddy bottom of the pool “del Bagno Grande,” where in ancient times, first the Etruscans and then the Romans went to question the oracle and to throw offerings.
“An endless surprise,” Jacopo Tabolli, a professor at the University for Foreigners in Siera is quoted saying in La Voce di New York digital daily. Tabolli has been leading the excavations at the site since 2019, along with Emanuele Marioti, director of the excavation and Ada Salvi, responsible for the superintendence.
The fascinating findings below the ground
The artifacts were located almost five meters below ground and include male and female bronze statues, thousands of coins, a gold crown and ring, precious stones, heads with Etruscan or Latin inscriptions left as offerings, and a series of snake sculptures, with one almost a meter long. According to the Ministry of Culture, it is believed to be a representation of Agathos Daimon, a bearded, snake-like god with horns, from Greek mythology, who may have been a protector of the springs.
According to the ministry’s statement, it would be the largest sculpture of this god recovered so far. Smaller ones are displayed at the British Museum in London and at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Archaeologists further explain that the snake sculpture is a representation of a kind of “good demons,” known as agatodemoni in ancient Roman culture. These statues adorned the “larariums” (areas of the house in which water flowed) in the houses of Pompeii since as deities they represented the sacredness of the spring.
“It is as if the small snakes and the agatodemone, with the constantly flowing waters, carried a message to the deities of the spring and those of health,” archaeologists Salvi and Mariotti are quoted saying in La Voce di New York.
Ancient eggs and a new museum to display them
Thousands of egg shells and eggs were also found among the artifacts, in some cases remarkably intact. Others had small holes on them, showing the yolk still inside. The excavation team also recovered twigs decorated with plants and pine cones, all part of earthly donations to the sanctuary.
The artifacts recovered at San Casciano are believed to have been preserved throughout the centuries by the warm mud of the springs. They will be displayed in a new museum scheduled to open in the town by late 2026.
#Treasure #Coins #Jewelry #Ancient #Eggs #Tuscany