Archaeologists in Pompeii discover ancient 'snack bar'
December 26, 2020
For the first time, archaeologists have excavated an entire thermopolium — a hot food and wine shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food. The frescoed shop gives a rare insight into Greco-Roman life.
The find marks the first time archaeologists have excavated an entire thermopoliumImage: Luigi Spina/ROPI/picture alliance
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Archaeologists in Pompeii have unveiled an intact hot food and drinks shop which could provide valuable information on the gastronomic habits of people in the ancient city before it was buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.
The thermopolium, which means a place where hot food and drinks are served, has led archaeologists to call it a "snack bar." Thermopoliums were very popular in the Roman world — Pompeii alone had 80 of them.
"This is an extraordinary find. It's the first time we are excavating an entire thermopolium," said Massimo Ossana, director of the Pompeii archaeological park, on Saturday.
Food traces found
Archaeologists found traces of nearly 2,000-year-old food in some of the deep terra cotta jars in the shop, including traces of pork, fish, snails and beef. The street vendor would have lowered the jars into the counter which contained circular holes.
"Our preliminary analyses shows that the figures drawn on the front of the counter, represent, at least in part, the food and drink that were sold there," said anthropologist Valeria Amoretti, adding that the discovery was a "testimony to the great variety of animal products used to prepare dishes."
At the bottom of one jar, archaeologists found crushed beans which were used to modify the taste of wine.
Brightly colored frescoes have been identified on the front of the store's counter, some depicting animals that were part of the ingredients in the food sold, including a chicken and two ducks hanging upside down.
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The Fall of Pompeii reimagined in Paris' Grand Palais
Pompeii, the Roman city buried in volcanic ash 2,000 years ago, retains its universal allure. At a new Paris exhibition, visitors can experience the city up close thanks to the latest 3D technology.
Image: Colourbox
Time travel to the ancient world
A walk through the streets of Pompeii is like a journey back in time — all the way back to the 79 AD. Pompeii was considered one of the most beautiful cities in the former Roman Empire. The climate is mild and grape vines grow across the fertile slopes of Vesuvius. Many of the homes also enjoyed sea views.
Image: GEDEON Programmes
A life in luxury
Pompeii was relatively large, the city extending over 60 hectares. Eight gates and eleven watch towers ensured the safety of its citizens. Wealthy citizens valued luxury such as thermal baths and a cooling swimming pool in summer, in addition to cultural institutions including a theater, and a large sports facility. Meanwhile, the Temple of Jupiter rises in the Forum in the central square.
Image: picture-alliance/Jens Köhler
Reconstruction of a villa
Wealthy citizens had magnificent villas built with colonnaded courtyards, ornate mosaics on the floors and detailed murals. A typical house could have looked like this back in Pompeii's pomp 2,000 years ago.
Image: Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. Rmn-Grand Palais/image Beaux-arts de Paris
'Villa of Mysteries'
This estate was one of the main attractions in Pompeii, and remains one of the best preserved villas of ancient times. Apparently, the house also served as a place to worship Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy (called Bacchus by the Romans). As the Dionysus festivities became increasingly excessive, the Senate banned them in 186 B.C. — though the orgies continued in secret.
Image: picture-alliance
Cookshops and wells
But not all inhabitants of Pompeii were wealthy and indulgent. Many were poor and most lived modestly while working as farmers, bakers or millers. Food was bought in public cookshops, a kind of snack bar from ancient times, and water was drawn from street corner wells. Women seek help from Diana (pictured), considered the goddess of fertility and midwifery.
The reconstruction
Before Pompeii was destroyed in 79AD, it had suffered from another eruption 17 years earlier. Many buildings collapsed but a lot were rebuilt even more magnificently than before. This ruin of a bath bears witness to this. Few would have suspected that the whole city will have to be abandoned a few years later.
Image: Colourbox
Killed on the run
For days the earth shook. Then Vesuvius began to spit ash and pumice stone at dawn on August 24. Many people are killed by falling debris, or suffocated in the ash. Those who survive become victims of the devastating lava flow that follows. Centuries later, the horror is still tangible as the cavities left by the dead bodies in the rock are filled with plaster and turned into sculptures. ar.
Image: picture-alliance/C. Dixon
A lost city
Of the approximately 20,000 inhabitants, about 2,000 would be found alive, having presumably fled the city in time. But Pompeii was abandoned and forgotten for centuries. Only in 1594 did canal workers accidentally discover old underground passages with inscriptions and busts. Almost 200 years later, the first archaeological excavation took place under King Charles III of Spain.
Image: Parco Archeologico di Pompei, Archivio fotografico
Ancient snapshot
As a layer of ash almost seven meters (23 feet) thick lay over the city, the systematic excavation of Pompeii did not begin until 1860. Even today, Pompeii is not yet completely unearthed. But the scale of the volcanic eruption was a stroke of luck for archaeologists since it preserved in rich detail the everyday life of a Roman city.
Image: GEDEON Programmes
Full immersion
The Grand Palais Museum in Paris pays tribute to the submerged city of Pompeii with an extraordinary digital exhibition. In addition to various found objects, the focus is on a 3D reconstruction through which visitors can become time travelers and immerse themselves in the ancient city. The show runs from July 1 to September 27.
Image: GEDEON Programmes/Stéphane Compoint
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Human bones discovered
Archaeologists also discovered a decorated bronze drinking bowl, wine flasks, ceramic jars used for cooking soups and stews and amphora used for storing or transporting liquids. They also found human bones near the snack shop, including those of a man in his 50s near a cot.
"The shop seems to have been hastily closed and abandoned by its owners, but it is possible that someone, perhaps the oldest man, stayed and died in the first phase of the eruption, during the collapse of the attic," Osanna said in an interview with Italian news agency Ansa.
The other body could be that of a "thief" or a "hungry fugitive surprised by the burning fumes with the lid of the jar he had just opened in his hand," he added.
About two-thirds of the 66-hectare (165-acre)ancient town of Pompeii, 23 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Naples in Italy, has been uncovered. The ruins were not discovered until the 16th century, and excavations began in about 1750.
The snack bar, discovered in the archaeological park's Regio V site, is not yet open to visitors. It had been partly exhumed in 2019 but work was extended to preserve the entire site as best as possible, the archaeological park said.
