Sealed Pompeii cupboard reveals 2,000-year-old daily life
Archaeologists recovered 38 bronze coins, child amulets, and cooking tools from a wooden storage unit that remained closed since the AD 79 eruption.
By Ariana Flores ·
A wooden cupboard in Pompeii has been open for the first time in nearly two millennia, exposing the personal possessions of a resident who likely had no time to collect their belongings before Mount Vesuvius erupted. The discovery provides a detailed look at the habits of an individual living on one of the ancient city's busiest streets, separating the mundane reality of Roman domestic life from the grand monuments usually associated with the site.
The site dates to AD 79, when volcanic ash buried the city near Naples. The specific house was first excavated in 1912, but only recently did archaeologists investigate the interior rooms as part of a wider restoration project. The wooden structure itself was not found intact. Instead, researchers pieced together the cupboard from traces and fragments uncovered in a residence on Via dell'Abbondanza.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the site director, stated that while the exact identity of the inhabitant remains uncertain, the objects offer a close connection to their daily routine. He noted that the value of the find lies in reading the different traces of a life, including personal habits, work, and memories, together.
The contents of the cupboard included a necklace with at least 24 tiny objects made of bone, glass paste, earthenware, and rock crystal. These items included images of the gods Bes and Mercury, as well as miniature hands, feet, pine cones, and grapes. Such necklaces, known as crepundia, were traditionally given to Roman children as protective amulets and rattles. They were sometimes kept into adulthood as mementos of childhood.
Alongside the sentimental items, the cupboard held practical tools for daily maintenance and commerce. Archaeologists found tweezers, a small glass bottle for perfume or ointment, an incense burner, and various bronze, glass, and ceramic vessels. A wooden box contained lead weights, suggesting that someone in the house was involved in trade. A small woven container held 38 bronze coins.
The presence of both money and personal keepsakes indicates that the owners were interrupted suddenly. The house is tentatively associated with a man named Cornelius Maximus based on inscriptions found there. The excavation also yielded the fragmented skeletons of two young mice inside an amphora on a raised storage area, offering a glimpse into the persistent challenges of urban living.
Zuchtriegel emphasized that Pompeii is not just a place of great art, but a location where ordinary objects restore the human dimension of the past. The findings are now part of the broader archaeological record for the site, adding new layers to the understanding of how residents lived and worked in the centuries before the eruption.
