Archinect - News

Archaeologists uncover ancient snack bar in Pompeii

2020-12-29T14:46:00-05:00

Researchers said on Saturday they had discovered a frescoed thermopolium or fast-food counter in an exceptional state of preservation in Pompeii. The ornate snack bar, decorated with polychrome patterns and frozen by volcanic ash, was partially exhumed last year but archaeologists extended work on the site to reveal it in its full glory.

The astonishingly well preserved and nearly 2,000-year-old snack bar, or Thermopolium, in Pompeii's Regio V has re-emerged in its entirety, along with food residues, animal bones, and victims of the AD 79 volcanic eruption, following a lengthy excavation effort.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pompeii (@pompeii_parco_archeologico)

"The decorations on the counter — which were the first to emerge during the excavation — comprise the image of a Nereid riding a sea-horse in a marine setting on the front, while the shorter side features an illustration which is probably of the shop itself, like a kind of trademark," reports the Archaeological Park of Pompeii's website. "It was not by chance that the discovery during the excavation of amphorae, located in front of the counter, reflected the painted image."

Contemporary art project opens in ancient ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii

2018-05-21T18:10:00-04:00

The House of the Beautiful Courtyard at Herculaneum and the House of the Cryptoporticus in Pompeii will each be the site of a new installation by artist Catrin Huber, as part of a Newcastle University project designed to create a new dialogue between contemporary art, Roman wall painting and archaeological remains.

Expanded Interiors at Herculaneum. Photo: Amedeo Benestante.

"By investigating two distinctive Roman houses, our project sets out an exchange of knowledge between old and new," the Expanded Interiors project website explains. "We are exploring what Contemporary painting and site-specific fine-art practice can learn from the often incredibly sophisticated and complex works of the Roman wall painters. In turn we investigate how contemporary fine-art practice can provide new perspectives on the spatial configurations of ancient Roman homes and the artefacts that adorned them. In so doing we will bring Roman artefacts (their replicas) back to the sites, while exploring new forms for displaying archaeological artefacts at Roman archaeological sites."

Expanded Interiors runs from May 17 – Jan 15, 2019 at Herculaneum and Jul 14 – Jan 15 at Pompeii.

Archaeologists uncover "Little Pompeii," ancient Roman settlement in France

2017-08-08T14:25:00-04:00

A major Roman settlement discovered south of Lyon in France is the “most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years”, says the chief archaeologist working on the project. Benjamin Clément, who works for the Swiss conservation company Archeodunum, is leading a team of 15 archaeologists at the dig in Saint Colombe, a small town near the city of Vienne.

The well-preserved ancient Roman neighborhood, dubbed "Little Pompeii" by the archaeologists, covers an area of almost 7,000 square meters (75,000 square feet) and was discovered during construction of a housing complex near the city of Vienne.