Category: Italy

From the Italian Press

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

… the last bit of the backlog! woohoo!

A piece of a Roman column was found in a drain during sewer work in Naples (I think):

Excavations in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence have revealed remains of a first century theatre:

… and bits from a Temple of Isis and a pile of other remains too:

Some funerary statuary from a first century necropolis near Naples:

Remains of a Roman villa from Albettone:

A section of Etruscan/Roman road from Perugia:

Evidence from a necropolis in Ischitella suggests (maybe) an Etruscan presence there:

Organic finds from Pompeii are going to be kept in a special climate-controlled space:

They’re talking (again) of an underpass between the Temple sites at Agrigento:

… and of an archaeological park for Selinunte:

Big hopes for a dig at the Vicus Martis Tudertium:

A statue of Minerva Tritonia has been restored and is on display:

The Domus Aurea will reopen within a couple of years:

Etruscan Necropolis from Foggia

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

A brief item from AdnKronos:

An ancient Etruscan cemetery has been uncovered by Italian tax police or Guardia di Finanza in the country’s south during a police investigation to stop tomb robbers. The cemetery or necropolis is believed to date back to the Etruscan civilisation that existed in central and southern Italy from 1,200 BC to 550 BC before the Roman era.

The necropolis was found in the province of Foggia, located in the southern region of Puglia.

Police intervention is believed to have prevented the sacking of the 500-square-metre necropolis, in particular five tombs that contained the remains of warriors, buried with precious funerary artefacts dating back to the fourth century before Christ.

During the operation, two people were reported to the authorities.

The illegal trafficking of antique artefacts is highly lucrative in Italy.

The tomb robbers or ‘tombaroli’ steal the items from ancient graves and other historic sites and later sell them on the international black market.

I’d like to think we’ll hear more of this, but the brevity of even the Italian coverage suggests otherwise, alas.

Gela Shipwreck?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

This is another one from the Italian press which I’ve been hoping would get some notice in the English press, but it doesn’t appear that that will be happening. The Carabinieri have been diving in the sea near Caltanisetta to recover assorted archaeological items which appear to be associated with several periods and several (?) shipwrecks (and, to judge from the divers, a crime of some sort). Artifacts are said to come from Roman, Greco-Hellenistic, and Byzantine periods. The only artifact that is specified as being recovered is an intact Byzantine patera, inscribed with a dove.

Finds from Pozzuoli

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 2 Comments

Most of the coverage of this one — both in Italian and English — is pretty much the same. The site is Rione Terra, which overlooks Pozzuoli. Here’s the coverage from AdnKronos:

Archaeologists have unearthed a number of ancient Roman treasures during excavation outside the southern Italian city of Naples. Twelve ancient statues, columns and fragments bearing inscriptions from what appear to be monuments from the Republican and Imperial periods of ancient Roman history have been uncovered.

A head of the Roman emperor Tiberius bearing a crown of laurel leaves, two other male heads and a fragment of a painting are among the objects from the late Republican period in the 3rd century BC discovered by a team of archeologists at the site in Rione Terra di Pozzuoli.

Two female heads were also uncovered. One may be the head of an Amazon warrior from the 2nd century AD, while the second is believed to be a Roman empress from the late Julio-Claudian dynasty.

The dig also unearthed part of a sculpture of a horse and an antefix, a giant mask depicting a Gorgon or mythological beast dating from the 2nd century AD.

Other finds include four busts, a statue of a robed woman, another of a woman wearing a toga, and a frieze portraying two human figures.

The area is located on a hill and archaeologists believe it contained public buildings and houses overlooking the sea. Only part of the site has so far been excavated.

The archaeologists are working under the supervision of the Italian culture ministry’s archaeological department for Naples and Pompeii.

… it would appear that the “Tiberius” mentioned up there should actually be Titus. Here’s a photo of the head:

from Cultural News
from Cultural News

This is possibly a photo of the ’empress’ mentioned:

from Cultural News
from Cultural News

A photo of the ‘Gorgon’ (I think) accompanies Rossella Lorenzi’s report for Discovery News. There may be a video report there as well, but I can’t seem to find it.