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-Roman Empire region of the Sabines and Latins peoples.

Etymology

Pesaro (Italian), fr. Pisaurum (latin), pis (pi π, plural) + (aurum, reflecting gold).^[1]

Discovery

The eighteenth-century Italian aristocrat or patrician Annibale degli Abati Olivieri discovered the grove in 1737 in Pesaro in a farm field he owned (Il Pignocco).^[2]^[3] in Pesaro.^[4] He reported this in a manuscript published in 1738, Pisaurensia Marmora, ("Marble of Pesaro-Umbria").^[5]^{[better source needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Votive stones

Votive stones from the Lucius Pisaurensis

Oliveri unearthed in the field fourteen votive stones or cippi, carved of sandstone with Sabine inscriptions in a pre-Estrucan script; a number of terracotta and sandstone artifacts; clay & copper coin; and a small bronze object inscribed Libra.^[6] The votives were inscribed with names of various Sabini-Etruscan or early Roman gods: Salute, Lucina, Marica, Feronia; as well as the later Roman Gods: Iunos, Diana and Mater Matuta;^[7] APOLLO, the Sun-God; MAT[ER]-MATVTA, an ancient semone divinity of luci; FIDE, an ancient goddess of High Divinity status, and IVNONII (Juno), a goddess of multiple origin myths,^[8] are a few of the names inscribed on the stones. They are estimated to date from c. 400 BC,^[9]^[10] a time when Pesaro was called by its Latin name of Pisaurum.^[11]

Other finds

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.^[6]

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. The library and museum in Pesaro house the collections of Olivieri, Giovanni Battista Passeri, and Giulio Perticari.^[12]^[13]

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).^[14]

21st century

The grove was rediscovered and archaeological interest in the site renewed during excavations in the 21st century.^[15]^[16]^[17] It has been suggested that the site was a meeting place for different groups of people.^[6]

References

^ History of Pesaro, Etymology of Pisaurum, http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/pesaro-history.php
^ In festo Ascensionis Christi oratio habita in basilica Lateranensi ad sanctissimum d.n. Benedictum 13. pontificem maximum ab Annibale de Abatibus Oliverio Pisaurensi J.V.D.(1728)
^ Votive Stones of Pesaro, http://www.ilpignocco.it/en/
^ Lucus Pisaurensis: Sacred Grove of Pesaro Discovered by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri, http://www.ilpignocco.it/en/about-us/lucus-pisaurensis/
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ Roman Votive Stones, http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/pesaro-history.php
^ Online Etymology Dictionary, see references to transmigration http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Juno
^ Estrucan Scripts Through the Ages, http://www.ancientscripts.com/etruscan.html
^ Roman Votive Stones, http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/pesaro-history.php
^ Etymology Pisaurum, http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/pesaro-history.php
^ Spiegazione di alcuni monumenti degli antichi Pelasgi : trasportata dal Francese con alcune osservazioni sovra i medesimi. (1735)
^ Biblioteca Oliveriana, http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/pesaro-history.php
^ "La 'Tabula Fabrorum' conservata nel museo Archeologico Oliveriano". Fondazione Scavolini. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
^ M. Cardone, "New Oliveriani documents on Lucus Pisaurensis", in Studia Oliveriana Series III, III-IV, Pesaro 2003-2004
^ Maria Teresa Di Luca Gabriele Baldelli, Pier Luigi Dall'Aglio, The Lucus Pisaurensis (Pesaro and Archaeology. Thematic Papers), Municipality of Pesaro, 2004
^ Gabriele Stroppa, "First to Pisauro Tombstone, New Research in Fragments, n. 12, Pesaro 2008