The archaeological park of Pompeii, one of Italy’s top tourist attractions, announced the recent findings on Saturday. Its director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said the excavation of rooms in a domus, or house, first discovered in 2018, revealed valuable details about the domestic environment of ordinary citizens of the city, which was destroyed in AD 79. In previous decades, excavation focused largely on the luxurious, ornately frescoed villas of Pompeii’s upper-class residents. But archaeological activity at the sprawling site, near modern Naples, has increasingly focused on the lives of the middle class as well as servants and other enslaved people. One of the well-preserved decorative cups discovered in Pompeii. Photo: AP “In the Roman empire, there was a large part of the population that struggled with their social status and for whom daily bread was anything but a given,” Zuchtriegel said. “A class vulnerable during political crises and food shortages, but also ambitious for climbing the social ladder.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The finds unearthed on Saturday include furniture and household items at the settlement, which was called the House of the Lararium – an area of a house dedicated to domestic spirits known as Lares. The house revealed in 2018 has one in the yard. Zuchtriegel noted that while the courtyard also had a highly decorated cistern, “apparently, the [financial] the resources were not sufficient to decorate the five rooms of the house”. One room had unpainted walls and a dirt floor that was apparently used for storage. Gabriel Zuchtriegel in one of the rooms of the “enchanted garden” house in Pompeii, August 6, 2022. Photo: Cesare Abbate/EPA In one bedroom, archaeologists found the remains of a bed frame with a trace of fabric from the pillow. The bed is identical to three crib-like beds discovered last year in a tiny room in another residence that archaeologists believe doubled as storage and sleeping quarters for a family of enslaved Pompeian residents. The bedroom findings announced Saturday also included the remains of a wooden trunk with an open lid. Although the weight of the beams and ceiling panels that collapsed after the volcanic eruption severely damaged the trunk, among the objects found inside was an oil lamp decorated with a bas-relief depicting the ancient Greek deity Zeus transforming into an eagle. Dishes from middle-class households are separated from the ruins at Pompeii. Photo: AP Nearby was a small, three-legged round table, similar to the accent tables in fashion today. Uncovering the storeroom revealed a wooden cabinet, its panel still intact, but the shelves receded. Archaeologists believe the closet had at least four paneled doors and stored cookware and dishes for the nearby kitchen. Excavators found a hinge from the enclosure. Other items found in the house include a large fragment of a translucent dish with a casing in brilliant shades of cobalt blue and emerald, and a well-preserved cradle-shaped censer.
