According to archaeologists, an "exceptional" Roman-era marble statue has been found in Italy.
Between the middle of the first century B.C. and the middle of the first century A.D., the female figure was created approximately 2,000 years ago.
The statue was discovered during excavations at the Tusculum archaeological site by researchers from the Spanish School of History and Archaeology of Rome (EEHAR), a division of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
The life-sized statue, according to EEHAR director Antonio Pizzo, is "a true rarity."
The Alban Hills, which are on the outskirts of Rome, are where Tusculum is located. The wealthy used this neighborhood—known for its opulent palaces and country estates—as a retreat from the capital in ancient times.
According to the researchers, the statue is of exceptional quality and condition despite being lacking its head and some of its arms. It most likely formerly belonged to a city's historic bathhouse.
"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," Pizzo said in an EEHAR press release.
He later told Newsweek: "It is a unique find in the panorama of current archaeology.
"It is not at all common to find statues in current archaeological excavations in this state of conservation and with this level of execution, rich in details and ornamental elements."
The detail of the attire, the anatomical features, and the representation of a deer skin hanging from the breast are some of the highlights of the statue's "absolutely exceptional" quality of execution, according to Pizzo.
The researchers hypothesize that the presence of this fawn skin indicates a connection to the worship of the god Dionysus. Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, was a Greco-Roman deity who was associated with, among other things, wine, fruit, greenery, fertility, ceremonial lunacy, and ecstasy. His adherents were frequently portrayed with deer skins on.
German researchers revealed in August that they had discovered a Roman-era bath complex beneath a city's streets.
The find was made while a fountain was being built in Neumarkt, the city's center and a city with a roughly 2,000-year history in the west of the country.
Researchers in Israel claimed in September that they had found a hoard of Roman-era weapons stashed away in a distant cave.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the stash contained four Roman swords from 1,900 years ago that were remarkably well-preserved. A pilum, a sort of spear used by the Roman army and often measuring around 6 feet in length, was also found within.
In the En Gedi Nature Reserve, just west of the Dead Sea, sits the cave where the weapons were discovered. According to the antiquities office, the tiny cave is concealed amid a group of remote rocks that are inaccessible.
