Category Archives: ITALY

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

2000-year-old preserved loaf of bread found in the ruins of Pompeii

2000-year-old preserved loaf of bread found in the ruins of Pompeii

This is the ultimate piece of toast: a loaf of bread made in the first century AD, which was discovered at Pompeii, preserved for centuries in the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius.

The markings visible on the top are made from a Roman bread stamp, which bakeries were required to use in order to mark the source of the loaves, and to prevent fraud.

I can’t get over how well it maintained its shape and texture, through both the volcano eruption and the ravages of time. It’s a very unsettling tribute to the normalcy of day-to-day life leading up to the catastrophic event: a (sort of) edible memento mori.

The ruins of Pompeii were first “discovered” in the late 16th century, even though the existence of an ancient city, hidden for centuries somewhere below the ground, was well known.

With the help of modern archaeology, the remains of more than 1,500 people were recovered, and with them numerous mundane objects, encompassing the daily life of a Roman town — frozen in time.

Herculaneum was engulfed by a fast-moving wave of hot mud, whereas Pompeii was buried by a hailstorm of ash and lumps of rock.

Roman bakery oven – archaeological remains at Ruins of Pompeii. The city was an ancient Roman city destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius. Pompeii, Campania, Italy.

The volcanic material solidified into up to 50 feet of rock that preserved all kinds of objects such as furniture, family portraits, and mosaics. Because the rock kept out the air, organic materials including leather, wood, and foodstuffs were also saved from decay.

The most amazing human remains have been found at Pompeii. Unable to escape the destruction, it is thought that most of the residents were killed by the intense heat.

The petrified bodies decayed to leave hollow impressions in the rock. In around 1860, superintendent of the excavations, Giuseppe Fiorelli, poured wet plaster into the mysterious cavities his team was finding — revealing finely detailed molds of the ancient Pompeians.

Oven and stone hand mills (mola asinaria) for grinding grain, Pompeii, Campania, Italy.

One object among the thousands of interesting artifacts has received much attention from both the scientific community as well as the general public. Loaves of bread were found in an oven inside the ruins of a bakery, preserved in charcoal, covered in ancient ash, with their texture and shape looking like they just came out of the oven.

Each is marked with the baker’s stamp, which was used as a guarantee of quality and a mark of the bakery in which the loaf was made.

The baker’s oven with the bread was first discovered around 1880, and while the loaf has long since been part of museum exhibitions, the bakery remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Pompeii today.

A portrait depicting the baker, Terentius Neo, and his wife was also found. What makes the portrait even more interesting is the way the wife is depicted — holding a writing plate, indicating that she was literate and standing with her husband as an equal, both in marriage and in business.

The Roman kitchen of a Thermopolium in Via Consolare street at Ruins of Pompeii, Campania, Italy.

Food remains, among other things, were discovered in both cities, giving us a rare and exquisite insight into the diet of an average Roman citizen.

In 1930, archaeologists discovered another carbonized loaf of bread inside an oven in Herculaneum. The Roman bread exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples was later borrowed by the British Museum. For their 2013 live cinema event, “Pompeii Live from the British Museum,” London-based Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli was invited to recreate the 2000-year-old recipe.

Bases for a roman stone hand mills (mola asinarae) of a bakery at Ruins of Pompeii. The city was an ancient Roman city destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius. Pompei, Campania, Italy.

“In AD 79, a baker put his loaf of bread into the oven. Nearly 2,000 years later it was found during excavations in Herculaneum. The British Museum asked Giorgio Locatelli to recreate the recipe as part of his culinary investigations for Pompeii Live,” explains the British Museum.

Charred loaf, from Modestus’ bakery, Pompeii, Campania, Italy. Roman civilization, 1st century. Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Archaeological Museum) 

With recreating the ancient bread recipe, Locatelli and the British Museum offered a glimpse into something quite ordinary, yet it so fascinating to be able to understand how people ate their bread 2000 years ago.

The objects, the food, the furniture, and − above all − the plaster casts of the people, today serve as a tribute to a time long lost, when life was violently interrupted by the forces of nature and left to be rediscovered centuries later.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Pompeii ‘fast food’ bar unearthed in ancient city after 2,000 years

Pompeii ‘fast food’ bar unearthed in ancient city after 2,000 years

Because of its tragic demise, Pompeii’s ancient Roman city remained in a remarkable state of preservation, serving as one of the world’s most important archeological sites to this day.

From people immortalized in volcanic ash, to frescoes that would never have survived for so long if there wasn’t for their magma sarcophagus, Pompeii has provided scientists with unprecedented insight into the daily life of this historic civilization.

The recent unearthing of a “thermopolium” counter decorated with frescoes is already being hailed as a game-changer in the quest of re-enacting the cuisine and diet of ancient Romans who perished under the wrath of Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Thermopolium, dolias (jars) detail, of archaeological remains of the street Via Stabiana at Ruins of Pompeii. The city was an ancient Roman city destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius. Pompeii, Campania, Italy.
Thermopolium, dolias (jars) detail, of archaeological remains of the street Via Stabiana at Ruins of Pompeii. The city was an ancient Roman city destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius. Pompeii, Campania, Italy.

Thermopolia were at the epicenter of Roman street life, by providing pre-prepared meals for a low price. The word itself literally means “a place where (something) hot is sold.”

The counter of one such thermopolium was discovered in March 2019 in the sector designated Regio V, located to the north of the Pompeii archaeological site in an area not yet opened to the public. The news of the discovery first came via Instagram, where it was shared by Massimo Ossana, the superintendent of the site.

A thermopolium was a place where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat food during the times of ancient Rome
A thermopolium was a place where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat food during the times of ancient Rome

According to the Guardian, there were around 150 thermopolia fast food joints in the city of Pompeii, which served as a lifeline for the poor who often couldn’t afford to own a kitchen.

Some 2,000 years ago, the daily menu included easy-to-make specialties like coarse bread with salty fish, baked cheese, lentils, and spicy wine.

The counter is decorated with a fresco featuring earthenware jars, known as dolia, used to store foodstuffs such as dried meat. The fact that this thermopolium is adorned with a fresco implies that it was most probably owned by a well-off person, as such decorations were considered a luxury.

Roman kitchen of a thermopolium in Via Consolare at Ruins of Pompeii, Campania, Italy

Roman upper classes usually avoided and often scorned such places, considering them unworthy of their pedigree.

Nevertheless, fast food restaurants like this one were all the rage in Pompeii, as well as other huge trading centers of the Old World.

They were the vibrant social meeting places, and much like taverns, they were often the spots where business deals were closed.

The discovery of the thermopolium counter comes in a series of recent excavations in the Pompeii archaeological park.

Dolias (sunk into the counter) and fresco detail of archaeological remains of thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus, at Ruins of Pompeii, Italy
Dolias (sunk into the counter) and fresco detail of archaeological remains of thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus, at Ruins of Pompeii, Italy

In December 2018, well-preserved remnants of a horse with saddle were found in the park area, as well as another magnificent fresco that was unearthed in February 2019, in the remains of a villa.

The fresco features Narcissus, the mythological hunter who became infatuated with his own reflection in a pool of water.

Along with the fresco, human remains of two women and three children, all huddled together during the moments before their death.

The discovery of this group of skeletons reminded us once again of the proportions of the tragedy that was the eruption of Vesuvius, which killed more than 2,000 people and left an ancient city forever frozen in time.

Apart from Pompeii, the neighboring townships of Herculaneum, Stabiae, Oplontis, and Boscoreale also suffered greatly from the eruption which constitutes one of the worst known natural disasters of the ancient world.

Source: theguardian