Pompeii is a place that continues to delight researchers with every new excavation, as if it were a mine. In AD 79, a pyroclastic wave of approximately 500 degrees devastated both Pompeii and Herculaneum. The person who took refuge in the villas met a terrible death, but for current archaeologists this was a stroke of luck because it allows us to know what the civilization of the time was like in the region and even the genome of Pompeii.

End? A room with very well preserved blue walls, furniture, many oyster shells and exquisite paintings on the walls.

a mine. Excavations in Pompeii began in 1739, but the effects of Vesuvius were so intense that today it is estimated that one-third of the city remains underground. Slowly and over generations, archaeologists have been bringing this villa back to life by finding new rooms (e.g. the ‘black room’) or analyzing Herculaneum’s enormous library for clues such as the location of Plato’s tomb.

blue room. Befitting its name, the walls of this ‘blue room’ are painted blue. It’s no secret, but what’s surprising is that pigment. This is because it is a very rarely used color in Pompeiian spaces and has already attracted great interest from archaeologists due to the symbology of this color, beyond what is found in the room itself: the color blue was used for rooms with a very detailed design. decoration.

According to the researchers’ interpretation of this place, which has dimensions of approximately eight square meters, it is a ‘sagrarium’, a sacred area dedicated to both ritual activities and the storage of sacred objects. This room appears to have been explored during the Bourbon period, but new research has brought to light some very interesting elements.

Some amphorae and piles of oysters

beyond the walls. In addition to the blue color, the decorations on the walls also attract attention. Throughout the room there are a series of niches and frescoes of female figures. Clock and, four season. These are on the side walls, and on the middle wall there are representations related to agriculture and animal husbandry. Its state of preservation is truly surprising.

However, the room may have been used for rituals but also for storing various objects, as a literal pile of empty oyster shells and 15 amphorae were found. It’s not like they said “give us time for dinner” as the volcano erupted, but there is speculation that the shells were construction material (crushed and added to the plaster). Many bronze objects such as jugs and oil lamps were also discovered.

More things you can find. As we said, there is a lot to discover in these settlements, but they confirm that this blue room from Pompeii belongs to a neighborhood whose excavations are ongoing. 1,000 houses and 13,000 rooms.

What is clear is that a great deal of detail about the civilization of almost 2000 years ago has been discovered in the last 300 years, but there is still much more to find.

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