Excavations in southern Italy have uncovered a terracotta bull’s head and a statue of the Greek god Eros riding a dolphin, shedding new light on the religious life and rituals of an ancient city, culture ministry officials said Saturday.
It is the first artifact to be identified from a sanctuary in the ancient Greek city of Paestum, a 5th-century BC Paestum, famous for its three massive Doric-pillared temples, near the archaeological site of Pompeii, but further down the coast on the Amalfi Coast.
Paestum Velia Archaeological Park via AP
The small temple was first identified along the ancient city walls in 2019 but excavations were halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Italian Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
Several small terracotta figurines were found in the first months of resuming excavations, the ministry said. Archaeologists have found seven bull heads around the altar of the temple as if placed in the ground devotionally.
The dolphin figurine found in the first trough of the artwork appears to belong to the Avili family of ceramists whose presence has never been documented in Paestum before, the statement said.
Paestum Velia Archaeological Park via AP
Limited excavations at the temples began in the 1950s and the ministry believed that more treasures would be found in the area.
The ancient Romans took control of the city around 275 BC, naming it Paastum from the Greek “Poseidonia”, which was formerly Magna Graecia.
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