ATHENS, Greece — Heavy rain in southern Greece has resulted in the discovery of a bull figurine thought to have been a votive offering made to the god Zeus from Ancient Olympia as early as 3,000 decades back.
Greece’s Culture Ministry said Friday that the little, undamaged figurine was discovered following an archaeologist seen one horn poking from the floor after the rainfall in the region.
The excellently preserved figurine was hauled into a lab and first evaluation suggests that it moves from the Geometric phase of ancient Greek art, approximately 1050 B.C. into 700 B.C.. It’s thought to have been a votive offering to Zeus created within a forfeit, since the sediment discharged in the statuette bore distinct burn marks, the Culture Ministry said.
Countless votive offerings are thought to have been produced in the altar of Zeus. Several have been observed in a thick coating of ash and are displayed at the archaeological museum at Olympia.