A familiar face has resurfaced from the ruins of an ancient Greek city in Italy. Archaeologists in Sicily have discovered what they believe to be an ancient Roman mask mould depicting the iconic Medusa. Under the direction of Roberto Sciarratta, they unearthed the mould in a building from the late Republican period (133 to 31 BCE) in the ruins of Finziade.
The finding sheds light on the intersectionality of spiritual and cultural life in ancient Rome. It’s not hard to see why the archaeologists immediately thought of the snake-headed woman—the mould depicts a stern face surrounded by what appears to be wild, thick-stranded hair.
