{"id":1056,"date":"2021-01-21T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T10:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natixis.ezine.intercountry.com\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2021-02-08T13:07:46","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T12:07:46","slug":"mallard-to-go-dig-of-pompeii-fast-food-place-reveals-tastes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natixis.ezine.intercountry.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/21\/mallard-to-go-dig-of-pompeii-fast-food-place-reveals-tastes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mallard to go? Dig of Pompeii fast-food place reveals tastes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read time : 3 mins <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level : Intermediate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press<\/p>\n

ROME (AP) \u2014 A fast-food eatery at Pompeii has been excavated, helping to reveal dishes that were popular for the citizens of the ancient Roman city who were partial to eating out.<\/p>\n

Pompeii Archaeological Park’s longtime chief, Massimo Osanna said Saturday that while some 80 such fast-foods have been found at Pompeii, it is the first time such a hot-food-drink eatery \u2014 known as a thermopolium \u2014 was completely unearthed<\/span>.
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A segment of the fast-food counter was partially dug up in 2019 during work to shore up<\/span> Pompeii’s oft-crumbling<\/span> ruins. Since then, archaeologists kept digging, revealing a multi-sided-counter, with typical wide holes inserted into its top. The countertop held deep vessels for hot foods, not unlike soup containers nestled<\/span> into modern-day salad bars.<\/p>\n

Plant and animal specialists are still analyzing remains<\/span> from the site, with its counter frescoed with a figure of an undersea nymph astride a horse. Images of two upside-down mallards<\/span> and a rooster<\/span>, whose plumage was painted with the typical vivid color known as Pompeiian red, also brightened the eatery and likely served to advertise the menu.<\/p>\n

Another fresco depicted a dog on a leash<\/span>, perhaps not unlike modern reminders to leash<\/span> pets. Vulgar graffiti were inscribed on the painting’s frame<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Valeria Amoretti, a Pompeii staff anthropologist, said “initial analyses confirm how the painted images represent, at least in part, the foods and beverages<\/span> effectively sold inside.” Her statement noted that duck bone fragment was found in one of the containers, along with remains<\/span> from goats, pigs, fish and snails. At the bottom of a wine container were traces of ground fava beans, which in ancient times were added to wine for flavor and to lighten its color, Amoretti said.<\/p>\n

“We know what they were eating that day,” said Osanna, referring to the day of Pompeii’s destruction in 79 A.D. The food remains<\/span> indicated “what’s popular with the common folk<\/span>,” Osanna told Rai state TV, noting that street-food places weren’t frequented by the Roman elite.<\/p>\n

One surprise find was the complete skeleton of a dog. The discovery intrigued the excavators, since it wasn’t a “large, muscular dog like that painted on the counter but of an extremely small example” of an adult dog, whose height at shoulder level was 20-to-25 centimeters (8-to-10 inches), Amoretti said. It’s rather rare, Amoretti said, to find remains<\/span> from ancient times of such small dogs, discoveries that “attest to selective breeding in the Roman epoch to obtain this result.”<\/p>\n

Also unearthed<\/span> were a bronze ladle, nine amphorae, which were popular food containers in Roman times, a couple of flasks and a ceramic oil container.<\/p>\n

Successful restaurateurs know that a good location can be crucial, and the operator of this ancient fast-food seemed to have found a good spot. Osanna noted that right outside the eatery was a small square with a fountain, with another thermopolium in the vicinity.<\/p>\n

Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which is near present-day Naples. Much of the ancient city still lies unexcavated. The site is one of Italy’s most popular tourist attractions.<\/p>\n

Human remains<\/span> were also discovered in the excavation of the eatery.<\/p>\n

Those bones were apparently disturbed in the 17th century during clandestine excavations by thieves<\/span> looking for valuables, Pompeii authorities said. Some of the bones belonged to a man, who, when the Vesuvius volcano erupted, appeared to have been lying on a bed or a cot, since nails and pieces of wood were found under his body, authorities said. Other human remains<\/span> were found inside one of the counter’s vessels, possibly placed there by those excavators centuries ago.<\/p>\n

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