Pompeii’s forgotten past: Archaeologists uncover a perfume bottle and a child’s necklace in a wardrobe that has been sealed since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Archaeologists have uncovered a glimpse into Pompeii’s forgotten past after opening a cupboard that had been sealed for almost 2,000 years.
Inside, researchers uncovered an intimate view of daily life in the ancient city, including a perfume bottle, coins, tweezers and a child’s necklace.
The cupboard was found inside a house on one of Pompeii’s busiest streets that was buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Researchers have now carefully excavated the piece of furniture from beneath metres of ash, along with all of its fascinating contents.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of the archaeological park in Pompeii, says: ‘We cannot reconstruct with certainty the identity of whoever lived in the house, but these fragments bring us closer to their daily life.
‘Pompeii is not just a place of great works of art. It is also a place where the most ordinary objects restore the human dimension of the past.’
Archaeologists have found a child’s necklace inside a Pompeii cupboard that hasn’t been opened since the eruption. Pictured: An amulet shaped like a winged shoe that would have been part of a necklace
Children in the Roman Empire were often given necklaces called crepundia that served as protective amulets and rattles to help busy parents keep track of their kids. Pictured: Charms from a child’s crepundia found in Pompeii
Amongst these relics of ordinary life, the most exciting discovery is a type of children’s necklace known as a Crepundia.
The necklace is made up of 24 tiny objects, exquisitely crafted from bone, glass paste, earthenware and rock crystal.
The tiny charms depict miniature hands, feet, pinecones, and bunches of grapes, as well as the gods Mercury and Bes, a god originally from Ancient Egypt that became popular across the Roman world.
Crepundia, which literally means ‘to make noise’, were given to children both as protective amulets and as rattles to help busy parents keep track of their kids.
Although they weren’t worn by adults, people often kept hold of their crepundia as keepsakes of childhood.
The Roman world was characterised by a high degree of mobility as people travelled for work or trade, so these portable items were often carried in little boxes or bags as a reminder of home.
Dr Sophie Hay, communications officer for the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, told the Daily Mail: ‘The discovery tells us about the personal activities of one or more people who lived in the house prior to the eruption.
‘They hint at a belief in protection against the evil eye – the neclace and amulets are kept for their magical and apotropaic properties.’
A collection of lead weights was found inside a wooden box (pictured), suggesting that the owners were engaged in trade
Experts believe the owners of this house did not survive the disaster, since their valuables and sentimental goods were left in the house
Alongside this necklace, the researchers discovered tweezers, a small glass bottle for ointments or perfume, a pestle for mixing makeup, and an incense burner.
They also found various vases and pots made of bronze, glass, and ceramics, including a refined snuff bottle decorated with scales of pine.
Meanwhile, in a sign that life in Pompeii wasn’t always so refined, researchers found the remains of two wild mice that had apparently been sneaking food out of a large jar when the eruption hit.
Dr Hay adds: ‘Evidence from elsewhere in the house suggests that the house was undergoing structural repairs and maintenance work at the time of the eruption so the house was not in a perfect living state potentially affecting how rooms and spaces were used.’
There were also intriguing hints at the owners’ professions, as the archaeologists found a set of lead weights in a small wooden box, suggesting they were involved in trade.
Archaeologists even uncovered a small woven container holding 38 bronze coins.
According to the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, survivors from Pompeii or their descendants usually returned to the city to dig out their valuables after the disaster.
However, Mr Zuchtriegel says the fact that these valuable goods and precious keepsakes remain untouched suggests their owners died without heirs.
The cupboard was found inside a house on one of Pompeii’s busiest streets that was buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD
Archaeologists found pots (pictured), vases, tweezers, a pestle for mixing makeup, a glass bottle of perfume, and an intricately decorated snuff box
Despite this new evidence, archaeologists are still trying to piece together a portrait of the people who lived in this house.
The home, known as a domus, was located on the crowded Via dell’Abbondanza, a 900–metre–long strip of bustling shops, workshops and homes that formed the city’s central axis.
The interior of the home is rich, featuring elegant paintings and furniture that would have been typical for these inner–city homes.
After being excavated in 1912, researchers have tentatively linked the house to a man named Cornelius Maximus, due to inscriptions discovered within.
But the interior rooms are only now being excavated as part of a wider restoration project, and there are still many more clues to discover.
Eventually, researchers hope that those small pieces of evidence will come together to reveal what life was like in the doomed city right up to the moment disaster struck.
Mr Zuchtriegel says: ‘The value of this discovery lies in the possibility of reading together the different traces of a life: personal habits, work and memories.’
How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago
What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge.
Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C.
An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance.
Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century.
His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow
He said that a column of smoke ‘like an umbrella pine’ rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night.
People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.
While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano’s column to collapse.
An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life.
Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano
As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge.
While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be ‘exceptional’ and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000.
What have they found?
This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later.
The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city.
In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues.
A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day
Some of the balconies even had amphorae – the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.
The discovery has been hailed as a ‘complete novelty’ – and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.
Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble.
Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day.
