A new study conducted at Bagno dei Frati within the thermal complex of Terme di Sorano in Italy has revealed new evidence for the use of geothermal resources during the Neolithic period.
Structural and environmental data in the study point to prolonged human thermal water contact in central Italy – serving as the basis for ongoing debates about prehistoric subsistence practices and the cultural understanding of the use of natural resources.
The investigation has focused on the Bagno dei Frati, a thermal installation historically dated to the fifteenth century AD. Underneath this later stage, archaeologists discovered a large cavity carved into the bedrock, within which they located an ellipsoidal structure composed of several travertine and tuff blocks.
Its regularity as well as careful choice of construction materials suggest that the design was not natural in character but intentional. Excavations also discovered an ancient thermal aquifer, a previously undocumented one that is directly associated with the structure.
The correlation signals a nuanced understanding of the hydrothermal environment alongside the use of water sources for geothermal purposes. Chronological data were examined using radiocarbon (C14) analysis of organic material located in protected stratigraphic settings adjacent to the structure.
The resulting dates range from 4495 to 4335 BC, and therefore strongly associate the feature with the Neolithic period, a time supported by the studies of lithic evidence, as well as ceramic material.
The clustering of architectural, stratigraphic, and artefactual evidence suggests that Neolithic communities were not only inhabitants of the Sorano region but also purposefully organised spaces using thermal waters.
While the specifics of such activities are hard to determine, the data undermine the long-standing common wisdom that systematic exposure to thermal waters was only pursued at relatively late times and was especially characteristic of Roman times.
Sources : Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the provinces of Siena, Grosseto, and Arezzo
