Pompeii excavations continue to offer fascinating journeys back in time.
Since the site gained new momentum a few years ago, after a period of abandonment, there have been important discoveries that have revolutionized archaeology.
This time, from the ashes of the city devastated by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 AD, several apartments belonging to the Pompeian middle classes have emerged in which cabinets full of objects such as plates, glasses, amphorae and other everyday utensils have still been preserved. similar in an excellent state of conservation.
The finding is significant because until now there was little information on the middle and lower classes of the city, which although they represented the majority of the population, have less presence in the studies of the city, as explained by the director of the archaeological park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel.
There is more evidence, however, of the luxurious villas belonging to powerful families, full of lavish frescoes or mosaics and full of opulent decoration.
“In the Roman Empire, there was a large sector of the population that was fighting for its social status and for whom 'daily bread' was not something that could be taken for granted.
We are talking about a vulnerable class during political crises and famines, but also ambitious to climb the social ladder,” Zuchtriegel said.
Image of one of the furnished rooms found. Pompeii Archaeological Park/EFE
Recent discoveries have confirmed that the desire to appear wealthy, the ambition of prosperity, that kind of I want and I can't, already existed in ancient times.
The objects have emerged in what is known as Casa del Larario, an apparently luxurious sacred space that came to light in 2018, and in which archaeologists have now dived to scrutinize every corner of four of the rooms that it included, two in the first ground floor and two others on the ground floor, at street level.
The lararium was a place destined in each house to worship the lares, the gods of the house or home to which the ancient Romans worshiped.
In the house, some rooms appear decorated and keep precious objects, while in others very simple wooden furniture has emerged.
“In the Casa del Larario, the patio with the lararium and the cistern were decorated with exceptional paintings, but evidently the means were not sufficient to decorate the five rooms of the house, one of which served as a pantry”, points out the park manager.
In the other rooms, two of them located on the upper floor and accessed through a mezzanine, the experts have found a wide variety of objects, some made of precious materials such as bronze and glass, others of everyday use.
And also "extremely simple" wooden furniture of which they have been able to make rubbings.
"We do not know the inhabitants of the house, but surely the culture of idleness that inspired the wonderful decoration of the patio was more a dream future than a reality lived by them," Zuchtriegel revealed.
In one of the rooms, simple and with a beaten earth floor, which the archaeologists believe could be a pantry, a cupboard with five shelves and two meters high has appeared that still preserves everyday objects such as glasses, plates, ceramics , small containers and amphorae.
All the furniture and objects that have been found inside this house allow to illustrate the life of the Pompeian middle class at the precise moment in which everything ended, when the Vesuvius volcano began to roar that autumn of 79 AD and buried this peaceful Roman colony for almost two millennia.
The cabinet is in the exact place it was at the time of the eruption and one part is damaged due to the collapse of the roof of the house due to the weight of the pyroclastic material.
The experts will continue to remove the layers of ash that cover the surface to discover what is hidden.
They will do it slowly to protect you.
A candle holder found by Pompeii archaeologists in their excavations. Pompeii Archaeological Park/EFE
In another of the rooms, smaller and without decoration on the walls, there is a circular table with three legs that has appeared practically intact with a ceramic bowl still on it that contains two glass cruets, a ceramic saucer and another made of stone. crystal.
Next to it, a simple bed has been found, which still has a part of its pillow.
The cot is identical to the one discovered last year in the slave room of the
Civita Giuluana
villa , devoid of any decoration, removable and without a mattress, only with a net of ropes on which a cloth was placed.
An interesting open trunk has also been found, which scholars believe was emptied by its owner when trying to escape the fury of the volcano and the avalanche of lava and rocks that it caused.
Inside, a small ceramic plate was found that was used for eating and an oil lamp with a bas-relief depicting the god Zeus turning into an eagle.
In another of the rooms on the first floor there is another cabinet with plates and glasses for domestic use, a bronze basin and a "perfume burner" or "perfumer" in an excellent state of conservation.
The archaeologist Massimo Osanna, one of the architects of the second renaissance of Pompeii, former director of the archaeological park and current general director of the Museums, has underlined how the site is "a continuous discovery" and "an inexhaustible laboratory for study and research, which it never ends the investigation, but, on the contrary, adds new data to the history of the city”.