Pompeii, rooms of the Domus del Larario discovered with furnishings and objects

The latest discovery in the northern area of Regio V in Pompeii Archaeological Park involves rooms in the Domus del Larario that still concealed furnishings. Small furnished rooms unearthed around the sumptuous larian depicting an"enchanted garden," which had already been excavated in 2018 during maintenance work on the excavation fronts. Dishes, vases, amphorae, glass and terracotta objects left in trunks and cupboards, and now recovered thanks to the tools of the stratigraphic excavation, but also less documented objects such as a precious decorated perfume burner, and the unique group of seven waxed tablets collected by a lanyard, of which it was possible to make a cast.

In this area, a luxurious, richly decorated lararium emerged in 2018: a room used for worship decorated on one wall by a niche sacred to the Lares, tutelary deities of the house, and by two large “agatodemon” snakes, symbols of prosperity and good omen. All around are walls painted with idyllic landscapes and lush nature with plants and birds, and on one side an entire wall with hunting scenes on a red background.

In 2021, an excavation and restoration project of the Pompeii Archaeological Park provided for the extension of the archaeological investigation of the upper rooms on the first level and those on the ground floor, located in front of the lararium, thanks to which other rooms (two above and two below) were discovered that still concealed various furnishings, of which casts could be made, and objects of daily use.

The rooms below made it possible to recover the entire furnishings of the room, as the voids created during excavation in the cinerite allowed casts of the furniture to be made (the technique involves pouring liquid plaster into the voids, restoring the shapes of the objects or bodies once they have consolidated). In one of the rooms is a bed, of which parts of the frame are preserved, as well as the volume of the pillow, of which the weave of the fabric is still visible. The typology of the bed is identical to that of the three beds discovered last year in the villa of Civita Giuliana in the Slave Room: it is a simple cot, devoid of decorative elements, disassembled and without a mattress; one lay on a net of ropes, traces of which are preserved in the cast made, and on a fabric resting on top of it. Next to it was a bipartite wooden trunk, on which beams and boards of the floor above collapsed. The trunk held a sealed saucer and a double-spouted oil lamp with bas-relief depicting the transformation of Zeus into an eagle. Also, a three-foot circular coffee table with a ceramic bowl on top containing two glass cruets, a sigillata saucer, and another glass saucer. At the foot of the small table, a glass cruet, jugs and amphorae testifying to daily use of the room.

The other discovered room appears to be a storage room or warehouse. It is the only one of the rooms that does not have plastered walls, and the floor level is also simple beaten earth. It was possible to make two casts, one of which returned the barely discernible shape of a shelf in which the amphora was crammed, while the second returned an accumulation of wooden planking bound by ropes. Wooden planks of different essences, with different cut and finish, probably for disparate uses, from furniture to repair work on domestic and service buildings. Outside the room, in the south corner of the short hallway, opposite the kitchen, a wooden cabinet with at least four doors was found instead. The upper part of the cabinet and the front doors were found to be compromised by the collapse of the floor slab above, with tiles, flooring, and plasterwork having gutted its upper levels, the forms of which, however, are still discernible on the wall behind. A cabinet about two meters high, with at least five shelves. Jugs, amphorae and glass dishes were found on the top one, while excavation of the lower levels is still in progress.

The upper rooms were excavated first, and the materials unearthed were mainly found falling into the volume of the rooms below. Among them is the small cast of the wax tablets. A unicum for the type of finding that allowed for the first cast specimen of them, which allows for the perfect restitution of their volumetry and details. It is a group of seven triptychs, bound together by a cord both horizontally and vertically. The polyptych was probably meant to be stored on some shelf, together with other ceramic and bronze objects. Contained within a large cabinet, which collapsed during the eruption, several ceramic forms of common use, kitchen and tableware, as well as sigillata (a type of fine Roman tableware) and glass forms, which are very well preserved, were also recovered. Added to these are a small set of bronze forms, including a well-preserved pelvis (basin) with beaded bottom and handles with palmette attachments, and also two bronze jugs, one of which has a handle with a sphinx-shaped surmounting applique and a lion’s head lower attachment. In addition to the metal forms, there was also the finding of a cradle-shaped perfume burner, in excellent state of preservation, with perfectly preserved polychrome pictorial decoration still showing details of lips, beard and hair of the male subject and geometric decoration on the exterior.

Finally, behind the Domus del Larario, a room pertaining to another dwelling unit was investigated, which returned the partial collapse of the suspended ceiling in which, through the technique of plaster casts, it was possible to recover the detailed volume of the canopy contained in the heart of the mortar of the suspended ceiling. Visible are the different bundles of thin straws, tied together by a thin cord and covered with gauze that isolated them from the wet mortar. Using the same technique, it was later possible to obtain casts of what currently looks like paneling along the north, east and south walls of the room. Some panels show engraved coffered decoration, while others return inlaid decoration with the inclusion of small, thin bone elements.

“Pompeii really does not cease to amaze and is a beautiful story of redemption, a demonstration that when in Italy we work as a team, invest in young people, research and innovation we achieve extraordinary results,” commented Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

“In the Roman Empire there was a large segment of the population that struggled for its social status and for whom ’daily bread’ was anything but a given,” explained the director of the Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. “A vulnerable class during political crises and famines, but also ambitious to climb the social ladder. In the House of the Lararium in Pompeii, they managed to have the courtyard with the lararium and cistern basin adorned with exceptional paintings, but evidently the means were not enough to decorate the five rooms of the house, one of which served as a storage room. In the other rooms, two on the upper floor and reached via a loft, we found a mixture of objects, some of precious materials such as bronze and glass, others of everyday use. The wooden furniture of which casts could be made is of extreme simplicity. We do not know the inhabitants of the house, but surely the culture of idleness that inspired the wonderful decoration of the courtyard was more a future they dreamed of than a lived reality for them.”

Pompeii, rooms of the Domus del Larario discovered with furnishings and objects

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.