Wading in the water: Excavating an Etruscan and Roman sacred space around a thermo-mineral spring
The ancient sanctuary of San Casciano dei Bagni and the pools still in use
When it comes to sanctuaries or votive deposits associated with warm or hot thermo-mineral water in pre-Roman and Roman Italy, the study of these archaeological sites has, traditionally, been focused on either the cultural materiality of ex votos or on the monumentality of the architecture; rarely has the water itself been the protagonist of the research. Over the past two years, in the southernmost part of Tuscany (Italy), we have discovered how excavating water and hot mud can reveal unexpected archaeological treasures.
Since 1585, the presence of an important ancient Roman site in the area of the Bagno Grande (“the Great Baths”) at San Casciano dei Bagni (province of Siena), close to the plateau of “Monte Santo / Sacred Mountain”, has always been mentioned in the historical studies on this region, which, in antiquity, was part of the territory of ancient Etruscan Chiusi. Despite the continuous life of the hot pools, which are still in use today as an open-air public bath, located close to the most important spring, with water at 42 degrees, the decay and gradual destruction of the Roman ruins has entirely transformed the area. The consistent overflow of hot mud throughout the centuries resulted into the transformation of this landscape, which was densely occupied with structures in antiquity, but which nowadays appears to be covered by dense bushes, picturesque orchards and small waterfalls with endless chains of springs and pools. A small paradise in which the ancient structures gradually became entirely invisible. Between 2016 and 2018, the Archaeological Superintendency of the Italian Ministry of Culture (SABAP-SI) conducted field surveys including a magnetometric survey, and identified the presence of a large number of structures around the pools still in use.
The project, “Lost and Found: New Excavations and Research at the Bagno Grande of San Casciano dei bagni”, was conceived at the end of 2019 in order to bring to light the archaeological remains around the Bagno Grande and its ancient landscape through a multidisciplinary archaeological project. The project was entirely funded by the Municipality of San Casciano dei Bagni. Under the field direction of Emanuele Mariotti, the excavation involved students from the Italian universities of Siena, Rome, Pisa, Florence, Sassari together with other European universities, such as Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cyprus. In a constant fight against water and hot mud and with a complex health protocol in place during 2020 and 2021 (imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic), five excavation seasons, focused on the area to the south of the pools in use, have brought to light the core of a multi-stratified Etruscan and Roman sanctuary, including an intact votive deposit containing thousands of votive offerings.
The area of the excavations
The types of votives (bronze swaddled infants, bronze breasts, amulets protecting early stages of life, metal ears, arms, and feet) are not unrelated to the spring by testifying to specific medical practices associated with the hot pools and the healing properties of the water. At the same time, the scientific understanding of ancient art has been enhanced in particular by the discovery of some exceptional Etruscan bronze statues – including a ‘putto’ with a long Etruscan inscription on its leg – incorporated into the later Roman thesaurus. It is the first time that such bronze statues have come from a specific context and are the result of a stratigraphic excavation, with all other examples having only a generic provenance. The project allowed also for a holistic reading of the phases of life of a Roman extra-urban cult place. Here thousands of Roman coins, bronze and lead figurines, organic offerings (including peaches and pinecones), and ceramic vases have been stratigraphically excavated inside the sacred pool (built in elegant travertine blocks) that since the Augustan period – when the monumental building was erected at the beginning of the 1st century CE – has marked the centre of the sanctuary. After a series of reconstructions of the sacred building (following fires and possibly an earthquake) the excavation revealed that at the end of the 2nd century CE powerful senatorial families from Rome took control on the shrine and dedicated stone altars to Apollo, Fortuna Primigeneia and Isis. The discovery of a marble statue of Hygeia adds another deity to those worshipped in Roman times. Isis, in particular, played a fundamental role in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, as it is shown by the ritual of the vestigia: a series of silver and lead votive footprints and ear-prints on the edge of the sacred pool testify to the ritual of the faithful coming into communication with the goddess. The sanctuary was abandoned at the beginning of the 5th century CE, probably in relation to the Christianization of the territory. Despite the abandonment, the continuous use of the hot pools and the toponym “Sacred Mountain” preserved the memory of the presence of this sacred place.
Bronze statue emerging from the hot mud
In light of these exceptional discoveries, with an agreement between SABAP-SI and the Municipality, the entrance of the Municipal building has been transformed into a new museum, displaying the results of the projects, including votive offerings and the inscribed altars. It is an experiment in an “Open Access” museum, meaning that it is always open, has free entrance and also follows the life of the Municipality, marking the identity of the local community.
Further reading:
Capolavori di arte dell’antichità riemergono tra le offerte nella vasca sacra del santuario del Bagno GrandeIl Bagno Grande di San Casciano dei Bagni: un Santuario Ritrovato
Jacopo Tabolli
Jacopo is Assistant Professor in Etruscology and Italic Archaeology at l'Università per Stranieri di Siena and Scientific Director of the project “Lost and Found: New Excavations and Research at the Bagno Grande of San Casciano dei bagni”.
Jacopo was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin between 2015-17.