Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| The agate gem indicates that the site was used by wealthy Romans thousands of years ago, experts from the university said. Photo credit: Ca' Foscari University of Venice |
Along the coast of the Venetian Lagoon in Italy sits a sprawling seaside villa — complete with extravagant pools used by its wealthy inhabitants for farm fishing and oyster preservation.
Or at least that’s what you might have seen 1,900 years ago, before the Roman Villa of Lio Piccolo and its structures were swallowed by the lagoon.
Now, archaeologists with the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice are exploring the underwater ruins of the home and its structures, and they recently discovered a stunning artifact during their third campaign of excavations, the university said in a July 24 news release.
The ancient oval-shaped agate gem is engraved with a mythological figure, which appears to be standing and carrying something over its shoulder, a photo of the find shows. Experts said the discovery strengthens their hypothesis that the site was once used by wealthy Romans.
The find is particularly unusual for a lagoon environment, Carlo Beltrame, a professor at the university who is leading the investigations, said in the release...
Here is the link to the source article.
Stunning mythological artifact — left by ancient Romans — found in depths of lagoon (yahoo.com)
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Mystery Item Identified.
If you've been reading along, you know that a few weeks ago I posted an interesting mystery find for ID. Dan K. found the figure shown below. You'll notice the holes in the hands. Dan didn't know the type of metal, but said the figure had female features.
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| Mystery Item From Dan K. for ID. |
One of my first impressions was that the figure might be "pagan or Wiccan." I did find examples of that kind of artwork.
I thought it might be possible that the holes in the hands were for attaching the figure to a cross, so investigated that possibility, and learned that, while rare, the idea of female crucifixion was not without precedent in Christian thought. I was bothered by the bent arms, which, along with the gender of the figure, didn't seem to me to support the idea of the figure being a part of a crucifix. I did however find one old example of a crucifix sculpture (in Galicia nonetheless) with similarly bent arms. Although I did find an example, that feature seems to be a very rare feature for a crucifix.
Although the item did not turn out to be from a crucifix, the research along that line was very fruitful. Cross and crucifix finds are among the more common metal detector finds and the information uncovered was appreciated by readers who sent emails to that effect.
Although I expressed the initial impression that the figure might be non-Christian and mentioning the possibility that the hands might be for holding items rather than attaching the figure to a cross, I didn't go far enough down that path. As it turns out, the holes in the hands were for holding other items.
Dan K. found the following figure which matches his find. It is a Santeria figure.
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| Figure Determined by Dan to Match His Find. |
I think it is time to put together an updated post on tips for identifying finds and submitting items for ID. It has been a long time since I've done that and I'm sure I can do a better check list today.
Maybe seeing the back of the object would have helped. Dan wasn't sure of the type of metal. Using a magnet in cases like that can be helpful.
Thanks to Dan for following up and reporting the final identification of his mystery find.
As is often a case, you can learn a lot by conducting research, and that can include a lot more than the true identity of the item. Looked like the lineup for the battle scene in the Lion Witch and Wardrobe.
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So shortly after publishing this post, I went looking for some Sateria finds. I pulled out a box of tons junk finds, stuck my hand in an pulled out the head I was thinking about. That was very unexpected. I expected the usual - to not be able to find what I was looking for - certainly not without a long search. But here is the head.
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| Lead Santeria Head. |
That one is definitely made of lead.
I know I have more of those items, and that isn't the best photo, but that's it for now.
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The same activists that would assault you for not wearing a Covid mask were spitting on people, and I'd hate to think what diseases they carried. It looked like the battle scene lineup from the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe.
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Here is a book you might want to read.
Treasure : man's 25 greatest quests for Eldorado : Tompkins, B. A : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
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Still not much storm development in the Caribbean or Atlantic. Still plenty of time left though. The peak of hurricane season isn't until Sept. 10.
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net