Pompeii wardrobe sealed by Vesuvius in 79 CE still holds a woman's charms, coins, and two mice
Pompeii wardrobe found untouched since 79CE holds keepsakes, coins, and two mice
Archaeologists have reconstructed a wardrobe in Pompeii's House of Cornelius Maximus that no one reopened after Vesuvius buried the city in 79 CE. Inside were grooming tools, a perfume bottle, lead weights, 38 bronze coins in a woven basket, and a necklace of at least 24 crepundia — childhood charms once mistaken for magic amulets. Two young wood mice were found in an amphora on the mezzanine. The untouched valuables suggest the owners fled or died before they could return.
Coins left behind suggest the owner or owners never had the chance to collect anything of worth, whether in money or in memory.
- callahad
Looks like similar coverage is available at https://www.ancientcontent.com/p/the-wardrobe-in-house-ix-11, which also has links to some primary sources (in Italian) at the bottom of the page.
- vintagedave
I love that two small mice were found in a jar. Sad for the mice, but it's such a normal slice of life.
At home I sometimes find a dead spider fallen and trapped in a drinking glass. Since moving to the countryside, mice in winter have become a reality. Recently for kitchen repairs, I found several dead ones that had fallen into the cavity around our range hood, which was built apparently once, not made to be opened. Here I am, two thousand years later, experiencing in my kitchen something similar to those Romans in their wardrobe.
- xyzzy_plugh
It really says something that a 404 can get to the front page in 20 minutes.