A 3000-year-old statuette of a goddess with handprints of its creator was found in an Italian lake

A 3000-year-old statuette of a goddess was found in Lake Bolsena, Italy. The most interesting thing is that the sculpture bears the handprints of its creator.

Archaeologists discovered a find underwater in a volcanic lake in central Italy. It is near this lake where the archaeological site of Gran Carro is located – the flooded remains of an Iron Age village, LiveScience writes.

Ancient statuette

The researchers believe that the 15-centimeter-high figurine of the goddess was probably made so that she could be addressed with prayers. Similar rituals have been documented in the region and in later periods, indicating that such practices are very old, and similar statuettes have been found in Iron Age graves. This is stated on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Culture of the Etruria region of Italy.

The researcher also notes that the goddess's features are roughly carved, and a print of a fabric pattern is visible, indicating that she was originally dressed in some kind of clothing. The figurine also bears the handprints of the craftsman who sculpted it.

"This is an exceptional discovery, one of a kind. It shows aspects of daily life in the early Iron Age about which little is known in southern Etruria," the archaeologists said in a statement.

A flooded village

Geologists have found that Lake Bolsena was formed between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago during the eruptions of the underlying volcano Vulsini. Roman records show that the volcano was active as early as 104 BC. And now scientists believe that the ancient village, built in the 10th or 9th century BC, was flooded when the eastern shore went under the influence of seismic activity.

According to archaeologists, the sunken village in whose waters the statuette was found was likely built by people from the Villanovan culture, an early stage of Etruscan civilization that preceded the founding of Rome. Thousands of artifacts found there since the 1960s include pieces of wood, household items, jewelry, and pottery, and studies of the village's layout suggest how the Iron Age society there was organized.

According to a Facebook post, the Gran Carro site is currently being developed as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which includes the creation of an underwater visitor trail.

One of the most mysterious features of the site is the Aiola, a large pile of submerged stones that archaeologists now believe to be a structure built next to a geothermal spring. Recent discoveries in the region of San Casciano dei Bagni, a few miles to the north, indicate that such hot springs were sacred to the late Etruscans and Romans.

Research in 1991 showed that the structure of the Aiola still contains fragments of wooden pillars and Iron Age pottery, and research in 2020 showed that the stones cover an earthen mound. Coins minted during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (who lived from about 272 to 337) were also found at the site, indicating that it was used even in late Roman times.

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