An “exceptional” marble statue from the Roman era has been discovered in Italy, researchers have announced.
The statue dates to around 2,000 years ago—somewhere between the middle of the 1st century B.C. and the mid-1st century A.D.
Researchers from the Spanish School of History and Archaeology of Rome (EEHAR)—part the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)—located the statue, which depicts a female figure, during excavations at the archaeological site of Tusculum.
The ancient city is located in an area known as the Alban Hills, which lies on the outskirts of Rome. In ancient times, this area—known for its luxurious villas and country houses—was often used by the rich as an escape from the capital.
The life-sized statue is in excellent condition and of high quality, although it is missing the head and parts of the arms, according to the researchers. It probably once belonged to an ancient bathhouse in the city.
“This is an exceptional discovery. At the time of discovery, only part of the statue’s back was visible and it was lying on a thin layer of painted stucco, so it would be part of the ornamental program of the thermal baths,” EEHAR director Antonio Pizzo said in a press release.
Some characteristics of the statue have led researchers to conclude that it may have been linked to the cult of the god Dionysus. For example, the statue features a depiction of a fawn skin that the followers of the god’s cult wore.
Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, was a Greco-Roman god of wine, fruit, vegetation, fertility, ritual madness and ecstasy, among other traits.
In August, archaeologists announced that they had uncovered an ancient bath complex below the streets of a German city dating back to the Roman Empire.
The discovery came during the construction of a new fountain in Neumarkt, located at the heart of Cologne—a city in the west of the country whose history stretches back around 2,000 years.
And earlier this month, researchers announced the discovery of a cache of weapons from the Roman period that were hidden in a remote cave in Israel.
The cache included four exceptionally well-preserved Roman swords from 1,900 years ago, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. It also contained a shafted weapon known as a pilum—a type of javelin used by the Roman army and generally measuring around 6 feet in length.
The cave in which archaeologists found the weapons is located in the En Gedi Nature Reserve, just to the west of the Dead Sea. The cave is small and nestled within a set of isolated and inaccessible cliffs, the antiquities authority said.
The En Gedi reserve forms part of the Judean Desert, which lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. The desert is spread across parts of the West Bank and Israel.
