Archaeologists report an exciting find of two bronze female statuettes at the Etruscan archeological site of Gravisca (the crumbling ancient harbour of Porto Clementino) near the town of Tarquinia. According to the dig director, archaeologist Lucio Fiorini of the University of Perugia, only about ten similar bronze figurines exist in museum collections in the world.
The statuettes date to the V-IV century BC and were probably buried in 281 BC by devotees of the goddess Demeter to save them from destruction by the conquering Roman army. Other finds from the sanctuary included a thymiaterion (a cup for burning incense) and the cover of a pisside (ciborium) in ivory in the form of a mermaid.
This find comes only a few days after the discovery of an intact 6th century BC Etruscan tomb in the nearby Doganaccia area. The tomb had not been disturbed and contained the bones of a man and some gold objects. It has been christened “the Tomb of the Suspended Aryballos due to the urn containing balm, which was still hanging from a nail near the body.