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Archaeologists have discovered four new rooms in a Pompeii house filled with household items that offer a rare glimpse into the last moments of life in middle-class homes before the furious eruption of Vesuvius.
The archaeological park of Pompeii, one of the main tourist attractions in Italy, announced the recent findings on Saturday. Its director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said the excavation of rooms in a “domus”, or house, first unearthed in 2018, revealed valuable details about the home environment of the city’s ordinary citizens.
Archaeologists found four rooms in a house in the ruins of Pompeii.
(Pompeii Archaeological Park via AP)
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The finds revealed the last moments of life captured by the furniture shattered by the eruption of 79 AD and hastily contested abandoned during the deadly disaster.
Plates, vases, amphorae, glass and terracotta objects left in chests and cabinets, hastily abandoned during the disaster.
The house found was nicknamed the Casa del Larario for an area of a house dedicated to household spirits known as lares.
“A large chunk of the population of the Roman Empire was made up of people who sweated for their daily bread, but were also anxious to elevate their social status,” Zuchtriegel said.
In the past decades, the excavations have concentrated largely on the sumptuous and richly frescoed villas of the upper class inhabitants of Pompeii. But archaeological activity at the vast site, near modern-day Naples, has increasingly focused on the life of the middle class, as well as servants and other enslaved people.
Zuchtriegel noted that while the courtyard also had an exceptionally well-adorned cistern, “evidently, the (financial) resources were not sufficient to decorate the five rooms of the house.” One room had unpainted walls and an earth floor apparently used for Conservation.
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In one bedroom, archaeologists found the remains of a bed frame with a trace of fabric from the pillow. The bed type is identical to three crib-like beds unearthed last year in a tiny room in another residence that archaeologists believe doubled as a closet and bedroom for a family of enslaved Pompeii. .
The bedroom findings announced Saturday also included the remains of a wooden trunk with the lid open. Although the weight of the beams and ceiling panels collapsed following the volcanic explosion severely damaged the trunk, among the objects found inside was an oil lamp decorated with a bas-relief depicting the ancient Greek divinity Zeus transformed into eagle. Nearby was a round three-legged coffee table, similar to the accent tables in vogue today.
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Display of the closet revealed a wooden cabinet, the board of which is still intact, but the shelves have collapsed. Archaeologists believe the cabinet had at least four paneled doors and contained pots and pans for the nearby kitchen. The diggers found a fence hinge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
