Ricerc@Sapienza

Between the months of October 1920 and January 1921, a group of about 30 small votive bronzes representing Hercules was discovered in the locality of Campo Macrano, near the church of S. Agata at Castelvecchio Subequo (AQ). Lithic cippi, at least one of which bore a dedication to Hercules and is connected to the display of votive materials in the sacred area, came to light.
This discovery must be considered highly relevant because alongside the votive deposits from Corfinio, Alba Fucens, Caramanico and, to a lesser extent, Carsoli, the Castelvecchio Subequo complex creates the possibility of studying a group of small votive bronzes, in context, from the Abruzzo region.
After excavation, the votive bronzes were divided: one part remained in the local Convento di San Francesco and the others were sent to the Museo delle Terme in Rome, from which they were then sent back to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Chieti.
The scholars who worked on this context between the end of the 1970s and mid ‘80s, highlighted how most of the small bronzes that had remained at Castelvecchio Subequo could not be found anymore.
Thanks to the study of G. Colonna’s Archive, now at the British School in Rome, it is possible to (re)study the whole complex, using pictures taken by the scholar in the first half of the ’50s.