Roman Venus head unearthed in Chieti City Square

A Roman age marble head depicting the goddess Venus has been found during the course of rescue excavations ahead of redevelopment of the central Piazza San Giustino in Chieti, Abruzzo.

Thought to date to the first century AD the head, carved from precious Parian marble, is likely to be a copy of the Crouching Venus by the Greek sculptor Doidalsas of Bithynia who lived in the third century BC. 

Other findings include laterite brick walls from the post-classical period, medieval masonry, a series of foundations of pillars, as well as sections of walls belonging to a cistern or large basement. A domestic-artisan space, also from the medieval period, equipped with a small silo for the storage of grains was also found.

"The preliminary investigation," reads an announcement by the Superintendence, "has resulted in photogrammetric and documentation of what was found. At the same time, the works for the redevelopment of the square, as part of a project of over one and a half million euros, will go ahead.'