Mallard to go? Excavation of Pompeii’s fast food place reveals tastes

A fast food restaurant has been excavated in Pompeii, helping to reveal dishes that were popular with citizens of the ancient Roman city who liked to go out to eat.

The head of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Massimo Osanna, said Saturday that while some 80 such fast foods have been found in Pompeii, it is the first time that a hot drinks restaurant, known as a thermopoly, has been completely unearthed.

A segment of the fast food counter was partially unearthed in 2019 during work to shore up Pompeii’s often crumbling ruins. Since then, archaeologists have continued to dig, revealing a multi-sided counter, with the typical wide holes inserted into its top. The countertop contained deep containers for hot food, not unlike the soup containers found in today’s salad bars.

Plant and animal specialists are still analyzing the remains of the site, with its counter fresco painted with a figure of an underwater nymph mounted on a horse. Images of two upside-down mallards and a rooster, whose plumage was painted in the typical vivid color known as Pompeian red, also lit up the restaurant and probably served to publicize the menu.

Another fresco showed a dog on a leash, perhaps not unlike modern reminders for tying up pets. Vulgar graffiti was inscribed on the frame of the painting.

Valeria Amoretti, an anthropologist on the Pompeii staff, said “initial analyzes confirm how the painted images represent, at least in part, the food and beverages that are actually sold inside.”
His statement noted that a duck bone fragment was found in one of the containers, along with remains of goats, pigs, fish and snails. At the bottom of a wine container were traces of ground beans, which in ancient times were added to wine to flavor and brighten its color, Amoretti said.

“We know what they were eating that day,” Osanna said, referring to the day of Pompeii’s destruction in AD 79. The food scraps indicated “what is popular with ordinary people,” Osanna told Rai state television, and He noted that the street food places were not frequented by the Roman elite.

One surprise find was the complete skeleton of a dog. The discovery intrigued the excavators, as it was not a “large, muscular dog like the one painted on the counter, but a very small specimen” of an adult dog, whose height at shoulder height was 20 to 25 centimeters (8-to-10 inches), Amoretti said. It is quite rare, Amoretti said, to find ancient remains of such small dogs, discoveries that “attest to selective breeding in Roman times to obtain this result.”

A bronze ladle, nine amphorae, which were popular food containers in Roman times, a pair of jars, and a ceramic oil container were also unearthed.

Successful restaurateurs know that a good location can be crucial, and the operator of this old fashioned fast food seemed to have found a good place. Osanna noticed that just outside the restaurant was a small plaza with a fountain, with another thermopoly nearby.
Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius, which is located near present-day Naples. Much of the ancient city is still unexcavated. The site is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.

Human remains were also discovered in the excavation of the restaurant.

Those bones were apparently altered in the 17th century during clandestine excavations by thieves searching for valuables, Pompeii authorities said. Some of the bones belonged to a man who, when the volcano Vesuvius erupted, appeared to be lying on a bed or cot, as nails and pieces of wood were found underneath his body, authorities said. Other human remains were found inside one of the vessels on the counter, possibly placed there by those excavators centuries ago.

– AP