Archaeologists in Italy have found more than 20 beautifully preserved bronze statues in hot tubs in Tuscany dating back to ancient Roman times, in what experts describe as an “extraordinary” find.
The statues were found over the past two weeks in San Casciano dei Bane, a hilltop town about 160 km north of Rome where archaeologists have been exploring ancient ruins for the past three years, reports a local Arabic daily.
“It’s an amazing and extraordinary discovery,” Jacobo Taboli, an assistant professor at the University of Foreigners in Siena who is leading the archaeological project, told Reuters.
Taboli added that the statues, which the Italian news agency (ANSA) says are 2,300 years old, are covered with nearly 6,000 bronze, silver and gold coins, and the hot water in San Cassano helped preserve them “almost as they were.”
The expert in Italian archeology stated that his team had found 24 large statues, in addition to a few small statues, and added that the unusual thing was that they were made of bronze and not clay.