A Syracusan hypothesis on the origin of the Riace Bronzes: new investigations and a historical-scientific revision of literature data through an interdisciplinary geological-archaeological approach

The Riace Bronzes are a pair of 5th century BC Greek statues, discovered in 1972 in the offshore of Riace Marina, south-eastern Calabria (Italy). A study conducted in 1995 by the Italian Central Institute for Restoration (ICR) highlighted a significant difference in the geochemical composition between the clays used for casting individual sections of the statues and those used for the terracotta pins with which they were welded. Considering that the clays used for assembling the statues are highly indicative of their installation site, and that numerous historical, literary, archaeological, and archaeometric clues suggest an original placement in the ancient Greek town of Siracusa (Eastern Sicily) for the two statues, in this work a comparison was made between the geochemical composition of the welding material and clays from the ancient production area of the town. According to geo-archeological data, this area was probably located in the alluvial plain between the mouth of the Anapo and Ciane rivers and the hill on which the Temple of Zeus Olimpio stands. The results show a surprising and significant correspondence between these clays and those used for the welding of Statue A and, in part, also for the restoration of Statue B. Furthermore, a review of literature data reveals a good correspondence between the mineralogical composition of the internal casting material of both statues and sediments present in the Sibari area (northern Calabria), the same used for the manufacture of the Auriga of Delphi. Finally, the analysis of the taphonomic characteristics of the bronzes and the geochemical analysis of the layered surface patinas, in relation to the hydrodynamic and geomorphological data of the Riace seabed, reveals a millennial primary deposition in different and much deeper seabeds. Aim of this study is to integrate the new data with a critical review of the most robust scientific evidence currently available in literature through an interdisciplinary geological-archeological approach, to yield a unified, coherent, and comprehensive reading of the history of the two famous statues within a single interpretive proposal.