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New archaeological excavations in Pompeii have revealed an intact ‘fast food’ restaurant, allowing you to discover the gastronomy and popular dishes of the city at the foot of Vesuvius.
According to the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Massimo Osanna, cited by the Associated Press (AP), this is the first time that a restaurant with hot drinks, known as a thermopoly, has been intact.
These archaeological finds, a kind of ancient street fast-food, were numerous in the ancient Roman city, but this is the first to be found “in an exceptional state of conservation”.
According to archaeologists, the reliefs with images of food present in the structure will allow us to learn more about the gastronomy in that place that was buried after a volcanic eruption of Vesuvius, in 79 AD.
A segment of the ‘fast food’ counter was partially unearthed in 2019, during support work on the ruins of Pompeii, several times in danger of collapse.
Since then, archaeologists have continued work which ended up revealing a multi-sided counter, with the typical wide holes inserted at the top and containing deep containers for hot food, not unlike the soup containers used in the restaurants today.
Plant and animal experts are still analyzing the artifacts found at the site.
Anthropologist Valeria Amoretti, who works with the Pompeii archaeological site team, said that “initial analyzes confirm that the painted images represent, at least in part, the food and beverages that are actually sold in the restaurant.”
For example, according to Amoretti, at the bottom of a wine container were traces of ground beans, which at that time were added to the wine, to add flavor and lighten its color.
“We know what they were eating that day,” said the director of the Archaeological Park, referring to the day of the destruction of Pompeii.
The food scraps indicated “what is popular with ordinary people,” added Massimo Osanna, noting that the restaurants were not frequented by the Roman elite.
The complete skeleton of a dog was also discovered, which puzzled the excavation team, as it was an “extremely small specimen of an adult dog.”
“It is quite rare,” Amoretti explained, to find traces of the antiquity of such small dogs, demonstrating “selective breeding in Roman times to obtain this result.”
A bronze shell, nine amphoras, which were popular food storage containers in Roman times, a couple of bottles and a ceramic oil container were also unearthed.
Excavations showed that outside the restaurant there was a small plaza with a fountain, with another thermopoly nearby.
The city of Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius, which is near present-day Naples. Much of the old city has yet to be excavated and the site is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.
