Archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved statue in an ancient sewer in Bulgaria, and it is believed to date back to the 2nd century AD. The team, led by Dr. Lyudmil Vagalinski, says the statue likely represents the ancient Greek god Hermes and is the first of its kind found in Bulgaria.
The statue was discovered during the team’s third day of excavations in Heraclea Sintica, an ancient city on the slope of the volcanic Kozhuh hill near Petrich, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.
Vagalinski and the Petrich Historical Museum have been leading excavations in this area since 2007 and discovered that the urban city was modern for its time and built with great elegance, according to the region’s official tourism website.
The newly discovered statue is more than 6 feet tall, Vagalinski said in a social media post. Archaeologists say the statue matches others depicting Hermes, but very few similar statues have been preserved in the world and many are headless.
During the Roman Empire, Christianity became the official religion and pagan symbols like these deities were banned. Archaeologists believe that people buried statues like this one, which is a Roman copy of a Greek statue, to preserve them. according to Reuters.
Vagalinski said on social media that the city’s former inhabitants may have placed the statue in the ground after an earthquake hit the area.
The team posted several images from different excavation intervals. They believe the statue was carved from an entire block of marble by a master sculptor. There was a plan to lift the ancient artifact with a crane and transport it to the Petrich Museum and display it after being restored.
CBS News reached out to Vagalinski for more information.
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