A new publication a on thermal healing spas studies has been published in the prestigious online journal Engramma, nº 214.
Derived of an international seminar in Siena, Chianciano Terme and San Casciano dei Bagni, the nº214 of the Engramma journal presents the results of a new season of studies focused on the archaeology of thermal and healing sites.
As the coordinators of this publication, M. Bassani and J. Tabolli, indicate “Our aim is to promote a polyphonic dialogue between scholars and disciplines, breaking past borders and boundaries. Although the study of ancient thermalism through the last twenty years resulted in an impressive number of monographs, edited volumes and papers published in international peer reviewed journals, we are still missing a consistent update on the various ongoing activities. Therefore, one of the goals is to ensure an annual monographic issue of Engramma dedicated to natural thermalism and in general to the topic of settlement and devotional dynamics related to water between ancient and modern times. Volumes will include the results of specific research, as well as updates on research projects, exhibitions and initiatives aimed at promoting the knowledge on the use, both ancient and contemporary, of this extraordinary natural resource”.
They also summarise in a very synthetic way the different collaborations, which allows a first approach to the different perspectives presented in this volume:
“The narrative of this first volume merges ancient votive religion with thermal medicine in context and follows a chronological and spatial order. Different papers address the preliminary results of the excavation at Bagno Grande in San Casciano dei Bagni (Italy) (Jean Turfa; Emanuele Mariotti; Edoardo Vanni; Mattia Bischeri). This case study becomes an input to revise past and forgotten excavations in Tuscany (Jacopo Tabolli, Debora Barbagli, Cesare Felici; Marco Pacifici) and to reconsider the votive role of bodies in ancient sanctuaries (Olivier de Cazanove). From Etruscan to Roman, papers discuss places, objects and written evidence (Maddalena Bassani), with a focus on the Euganean area both under the perspective of archaeologists and architects (Maddalena Bassani, Maria Elena De Venanzi) and biologists and medical doctors (Fabrizio Caldara, Antonio Chiappetta, Pietro Scimemi). The article by Silvia González-Soutelo and Laura García-Juan proposes a broad methodological approach to the study of thermo-mineral sites between Antiquity and the present day. In this paper future research developed by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid is outlined. Back to San Casciano dei Bagni, the last part of the volume presents the encountering of the thermo-mineral spring of Bagno Grande in the design of the exhibition at the Archaeological National Museum of Naples (Massimo Osanna, Jacopo Tabolli)”.
So, awaiting the imminent publication of the results of the thermalism congress held last year (2023) in Madrid (scheduled for August 8, 2024, in open access in Archaeopress, about which we will duly inform you), we invite you to visit and enjoy this number 214 of the Engramma Journal, to continue advancing in the research on the origin of ancient thermalism.
Keep in touch !
and Happy summer and happy August full of lots of news !
Best,
Silvia
