[ad_1]
A thermopoly (thermopolium), a kind of “fast-food” in the middle of the street in ancient Rome, and which was unearthed in Pompeii (Campania, south, near Naples), it is decorated with very colorful themes and in an exceptional state of conservation, announced this Saturday those responsible for the site.
The counter preserved by the volcanic ash had been partially unearthed in 2019, but the works were extended to try to preserve all the archeological site the best possible, and that it is located in a very crowded neighborhood, at the crossroads of the streets of Las Bodas de Plata and Los Balcones.
In addition to a fresco also discovered earlier, depicting a nereid (sea nymph) mounted on a horse, the researchers found, also painted in bright colors, animals, especially poultry, such as chickens and mallards, which had to be watered with wine or hot drinks.
But above all, scientists found in the recesses of the table food scraps that could provide valuable information on gastronomic customs in Pompeii at the time Vesuvius erupted, in AD 79.
A fragment of duck bone was recovered, as well as remains of pig, goat, fish and snails in clay containers. Several ingredients were cooked together, as if it were a paella.
In the bottom of a container, crushed beans were found, which were used to modify the taste of the wine.
“In addition to being a testimony of daily life in Pompeii, the possibilities of analyzing this thermopoly are exceptional, since for the first time a complete set has been unearthed,” he rejoices Massimo osanna, general director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, in a statement.
Near the place were found amphoras, a cistern and a fountain, as well as human bones, including those of a man in his 50s, near a child’s crib.
“The thermopoly gives the impression of having been hastily closed and abandoned by its owners, although it is possible that someone, perhaps the older man, stayed and died during the first stage of the eruption, when the loft collapsed,” explained Osanna in an interview with the local agency Ansa.
The other skeleton could be that of a thief or some hungry fugitive, “Surprised by the burning vapors holding in one hand the lid of the container that he had just opened”he added.
The “Thermopolia” (the compound word comes from the Greek ‘thermopōlion’, which means hot food to sell) were very common in the Roman world. Only in Pompeii there were about 80.
The city, completely covered by the eruption of the Vesuvius In the year 79, it was the second most visited place in Italy after the Roman Colosseum, with almost four million visits in 2019.
So far, only a third of the site, which currently extends over some 44 hectares not far from Naples, has been unearthed by archaeologists.
[ad_2]
