TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA—A well at the site of Cetamura del Chianti in Italy has yielded artifacts from the Etruscan, Roman, and medieval periods. “The rich assemblage of materials in bronze, silver, lead, and iron, along with the abundant ceramics and remarkable evidence of organic remains, create an unparalleled opportunity for the study of culture, religion, and daily life in Chianti and the surrounding region,” Nancy de Grummond of Florida State University told Science Daily. Her team recovered an Etruscan wine bucket decorated with figurines of the marine monster Skylla, and another Etruscan vessel adorned with a bronze finial of the head of a feline with the mane of a lion and the spots of a leopard. Many objects made of wood, including parts of buckets, a spatula or spoon, a spool, and an item that might have been a child’s top were also found. Grape seeds from the well should offer information about wine in Tuscany between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. “Offerings to the gods were found inside in the form of hundreds of miniature votive cups, some 70 bronze and silver coins, and numerous pieces used in games of fortune, such as astragali, which are akin to jacks,” she added.
