Construction Workers Find 2,000-Year-Old Roman Bust on Spanish Beach

Construction workers in Spain uncovered a 2,000-year-old Roman marble bust during a beach regeneration project on Almadraba beach in Alicante. The artifact is believed to date to the first or second century and is thought to depict the goddess Venus. Officials described it as a Roman head of great artistic quality and in an excellent state of preservation.

Burgos, head of integral heritage, said the bust shows a hairstyle of Hellenistic influence with wavy hair pulled back with a parting in the middle. The piece follows the idealized model of representations of divinities such as the Greek Aphrodite or the Roman Venus, according to the same statement.

The regeneration of La Almadraba beach, which had been expected to reopen to tourists this summer, is now on hold while archaeologists excavate the site. Archaeologists have worked in the area since 2009, when remains of a Roman villa linked to Lucentum were first discovered nearby.

The culture department previously reported that the villa operated between the third century BC and the fourth century AD and yielded foundations of houses, ceramics, and coins. The newly found bust is undergoing further testing to confirm its authenticity.