Lucus Pisaurensis

Lucus Pisaurensis is a sacred grove or lucus of ancient Pisaureum, modern Pesaro in Italy. It is just outside the coastal comune of Pesaro, between the Colle della Salute and the Collina in Santa Veneranda. It is in the Pesaro e Urbino Province of Marche, a pre-Imperium Romanum region of the Sabines and Latins peoples.

Discovery

The eighteenth-century Italian aristocrat Annibale degli Abati Olivieri discovered the grove in 1737. He reported this in a manuscript published in 1738, Pisaurensia Marmora, ("Marble of Pesaro-Umbria"), a manuscript written by 18th Century Italian aristocrat Annibale degli Abbati Olivieri Giordani, was published in 1738.[1] Olivieri said that he found the grove in a field by the Chiostro di Santo Gaetano dei Conti. He called the site Lucus Pisaurensis (Sacred Grove of Pesaro) and gave a brief description of his findings. Olivieri wrote that he planned to publish a future work called De Luco Sacred Veterum Pisaurensium ("The Sacred Grove of Ancient Pisaurensis"), once excavations were completed. This was never published and interest in the lucus disappeared after Oliviera's death.

Oliveri unearthed in the field fourteen votive stones or cippi, carved of sandstone with Sabine inscriptions in Umbrian-Estrucan; a number of terracotta and sandstone artifacts; clay & copper coin; and a small bronze object inscribed Libra.[2] The votives were inscribed with names of various Sabini-Etruscan gods: Salute, Fide, Lucina, Marica, Feronia, Juno Regina; as well as the later Roman Gods: Iunos, Diana and Mater Matuta.

He also found a terracotta borderline marker, inscribed " δ Δ δ luci coiirii CI LX ". Luci Coiiri means 'Coerian Grove' and the Roman numerals are thought to reference land measurements.[2]

Olivieri found other artifacts on his estate, all of which are housed in the Biblioteca Oliveriana and Museo Oliveriano, a museum and library in Pesaro founded by him. Among these are bronze and clay coinage, carved sandstone stela from 7th C. B.C. depicting naumachia (mock naval battles) and a bronze Tabula Fabrorum with a relief of the Etruscan goddess Menrva (found at Palazzo Barignani).[3]

21st century

The grove was rediscovered and archaeological interest in the site renewed during excavations in the 21st century.[4][5][6] It has been suggested that the site was a meeting place for different groups of people.[2]

See also

References
  1. Müller, K.O.; Leitch, J. (1847). Ancient Art and Its Remains: Or a Manual of the Archaeology of Art. Ancient Art and Its Remains: Or, A Manual of the Archaeology of Art. Fullarton. p. 248. Retrieved 7 Dec 2022.
  2. Van Der Meer, Bouke (2015). "The impact of Rome on luci (sacred glades, clearings and groves) in Italy". Babesch. 90: 99–107. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  3. "La 'Tabula Fabrorum' conservata nel museo Archeologico Oliveriano". Fondazione Scavolini. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. M. Cardone, "New Oliveriani documents on Lucus Pisaurensis", in Studia Oliveriana Series III, III-IV, Pesaro 2003-2004
  5. Maria Teresa Di Luca Gabriele Baldelli, Pier Luigi Dall'Aglio, The Lucus Pisaurensis (Pesaro and Archaeology. Thematic Papers), Municipality of Pesaro, 2004
  6. Gabriele Stroppa, "First to Pisauro Tombstone, New Research in Fragments, n. 12, Pesaro 2008

Further reading
  • "Il lucus Pisaurensis e la romanizzazione dell'Ager Gallicus", by Filippo Coarelli, in Christer Bruun (ed), The Roman Middle Republic: Politics, Religion, and Historiography c.400-133 BC: papers from a conference at the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Rome (2000) (ISBN 952-5323-00-5)

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.