Architects tinkering around in the various digs sprinkled around the area of Montelupo Fiorentino, only about 30km (about 18 miles) from Florence, are used to coming up with shards of ancient ceramics, a chunk of household whatever, a piece of jewelry… but what they found at a dig between the villages of Capraia and Limite, they weren’t ready for. They’d already excavated down to 8 meters (about 26 feet)… everything coming along nicely, nothing out of the ordinary. At 9.5 meters (31 feet)… hold on! What’s this? At the bottom of the well, a false bottom created with the wide ceramic roofing tiles used by Etruscans of the 3rd century b.c.e. Under the layer of tiles, the top part of an “orcio”, the huge ceramic jug used to store olive oil, which had been broken in half on purpose to serve as the covering of a grave, as was the Etruscan custom during this period and in this area. Under this “lid”… a single human skeleton. A man about 30 years old. Under him, a mass of flasks used to hold and serve wine. According to Fausto Berti, the director of the Archeological Museum of Montelupo, what we have here could very likely be a human sacrifice! The working theory is that the man, possibly a prisoner, was sacrificed in order tobring on the generous spirit of the gods upon the foundation of a new settlement… but not before the celebration of a banquet – hence the pile of empty bottles. As far as I can tell, no cigarette butts or empty potato chip bags were found. Whether or not the guest of honor participated in the banquet or not is yet to be determined, as is whether or not this is all just a bunch of hooey! One thing for sure, he didn’t just happen to fall into the well, then get buried under half a jug and a pile of tiles! Part of the mystery lies in the fact that Roman law of the period, which didn’t differ from Etruscan law, strictly forbade the burying of anyone in an urban setting. As I write, the experts are reconstructing and restoring the skeleton to be able to determine the cause of death and, hopefully, solve this mysterious riddle. I’ll keep you posted!