Lucus Pisaurensis
Sacred grove of ancient Pisaureum, Lucus Pisaurensis is a sacerdotal lucus lying just outside the coastal "comune" of Pesaro, Italy between the Colle della Salute (Hill of Salus) and the Collina (Hillside of the Springs of Beatitude) in Santa Veneranda. Santa Veneranda is a hamlet in the Pesaro e Urbino Province of Marche, Italy, a pre-"Imperium Romanum" region of the Latin Sabini, Umbrian and Estrucan tribes. History of Discovery. "Pisaurensia Marmora", ("Marble of Pesaro-Umbria"), a manuscript written by 18th Century Italian aristocrat Annibale degli Abbati Olivieri Giordani, was published in 1738. In the preface, Olivieri reports having  discovered, in the prior year, a sacred grove on his estate in a farm field by the little "Chiostro di Santo Gaetano dei Conti." He calls the site "Lucus Pisaurensis" (Sacred Grove of Pesaro) and provides a brief description of his findings. Olivieri further states that he plans to publish a future manuscript entitled "De Luco Sacred Veterum Pisaurensium" ("The Sacred Grove of Ancient Pisaurensis"), once excavations are completed. This work however, was never published and interest in the "lucus" disappeared after Oliviera's passing. 21st Century During excavations in the 21st century, the grove was rediscovered and archaeological interest  in the site renewed. The Findings. Oliveri unearthed in his field, near the ancient "fontanine" by the "Chiostro di Santo Gaetano dei Conti", 13 votive stones or "cippi", carved of sandstone with Sabine inscriptions in Umbrian-Estrucan; a number of terracotta and sandstone artifacts; clay & copper coin; and a small "semo" replica in bronze inscribed "Libra". The votives were inscribed with names of various Sabini-Estrucan "semones": Salute, Fide, Lucina, Marica, Feronia, Juno Regina; as well as the later Roman Gods: Iunos, Apolenei, Diana, Mater Matuta. In addition to the found votives, coin and idol, a terracotta borderline marker was  unearthed, inscribed: " "δ Δ δ luci coiirii CI LX" ". "Luci Coiiri" means 'Coerian Grove' and the Roman numerals are taken to reference land measurements. Olivieri found numerous other artifacts on his estate, all of which are housed in the Biblioteca Oliveriana, a Museum and Library in Pesaro that he founded. Among these many findings are bronze and clay coinage, carved sandstone stela from 7th C. B.C. depicting naumachia (mock naval battles), the famed bronze Tabula Fabrorum with the relief of Etruscan goddess Minerva (Pallas Athena). The "fontanine", or little fountains of stone, by groves near the "Chiostro" where many of  the votives are discoveried, give archaeologists reason to connect the "lucus" to a cult of water goddesses. Latin meaning of the word "fontanine" is 'spring waters' as referenced by Decimus Iūnius Iuvenālis, a Silver Age Roman poet, (55 - c. 138 CE), "Quaesitum ad fontem solos deducere verpus", "To guide only the "condūcēbāmus" to the fountain that they seek." Evolution of Votives It is of interest to note that over the millennia, as the original purpose of "luci" became lost, votive stones, cippi and stelae translated to become grave markers and tombs. Elements of Sacred Groves ("Luci"). Ceremonies in "luci" were  centered around classic elements of a spring and a sylvan wood or coppice. Trees with certain desired qualities of a mystical nature and waters of a certain mineral purity were essential to the creating of a Sacred Grove. One of these trees is the Laurus nobilis ("lat." Laures, "gr." Dáphnē Δάφνη), a Mediterranean tree native to the Greek and Roman territories of the early Italics, Illyrians and Iberians. The leaves, roots, berries and bark of the bay laurel contain volatile oils, malabathrum, which stimulate sense glands of the nose, and were the basis of these rituals. Earliest ceremonies of the  bronze-age were very naturalistic, "πῖπτον" The Carmen Arvale is a surviving Classical-Age "Anticuus Latius vocare mei" chant of "di semones" with the praepositus calling forth "quod potentia" of their guardian divinities and imploring them to "limen sali, sta." An Allegorical Myth of "Luci" Daphne, a naiad (nymph, a spirit of springs and sacred groves) is pursued by Apollo and when she entreaties, is allegorically turned to a "laures" tree by her river god Ladon. Etymologies. Pisaureum, original name of Pesaro, from Pisaurus; "gr." [ᵉ]Pì, by the side of + "gr." sauria from "sanskrt." s`aura, ☯ (symbol of dynamic  union) sun's aura + "lat." -ium or "lat." -us, both from "gr." -ion or -ia, a state, condition, or quality caused by activities such as those of a ritual Sacerdotal Lucus, A Sacred Wood; Sacerdotal [sacer, "lat." sacred + dotal, "lat." giving], sacred giving or offering; Lucus, "lat.", lux, light Condūcēbāmus, "lat."1st person imperfect, channel through, combine together, unite; gunas of Nature, of that which binds together Coerian, "lat." cor, of the heart, of the soul; from "gr." kardía καρδία, from "an. gr." kéar κῆρ, with all the heart; from "PIE" ḱḗr, fr. "proto-PIE" m'ḳerd, "Sẇan" cognate  muč̣û`ed, of the breast Collina di Calibano, Hillside of Beātificus; Collina "it.", down hill; Calibano "gr." καλλίστη inner beauty, "lat." Beātificus, blessedness, a state of holy bliss, calque "samadhi" Colle della Salute, Hill of Salus; Colle "it.", hill; Salute "it.", from "lat." Salvs, an ancient Roman demi-goddess or "semo", ultimately from "PIE" solh₂, meaning whole or completed Cippi, "gr." ἐνσκήπτω, "n." stela, a balance, a post; "v." to let fall, to hurl ("viz." a rock) Semo pl. Semones, "gr." Δαίμων, demigods and -goddesses of Sabini origin, from "lat." se, separated, parted from + "lat." homo, as one, together with  Dáphnē Laures, "lat." Laurūs, from "etr." lar, the spirit of; "anc. gr." Δάφνη δáphnē, laurel, of which the ingested leaves give the gift of prophesying A sequential listing of sandstones identified in the various "luci" cippi- the stēla, "Iakovianós simádi" and hélmis scapī of Lucus Pisaurensis A short article on the Oliveriano Museum in Pesaro, Italy, with descriptives of the Lucus Pisaurensis artifacts and Olivieri's archeological findings around Pesaro-Umbria http://www.euromuse.net/en/museums/museum/view-m/museo-archeologico-oliveriano/