Posted on 12/29/2020 9:09:41 AM PST by Red Badger
A fast-food eatery — or thermopolium — discovered at Pompeii has been completely excavated, helping to reveal some top dishes of the ancient Roman city. The site is about 18 miles southeast of Naples, Italy. Luigi Spina/Archaeological Park of Pompeii
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Ever wonder what a 2,000-year-old fast-food restaurant might look like?
Well, new photos from researchers might give you an idea. Archaeologists said on Saturday they excavated a complete thermopolium — a Roman food counter — in the ancient city of Pompeii.
Researchers are analyzing the findings to create a more complete picture of the daily life — and diet — of a person in Pompeii.
"As well as being another insight into daily life at Pompeii, the possibilities for study of this Thermopolium are exceptional, because for the first time an area of this type has been excavated in its entirety," Massimo Osanna, interim director general of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement.
Archaeologists have made discoveries in Pompeii, about 18 miles southeast of Naples, Italy, for centuries. The community was buried in ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, killing at least hundreds of people. The remains of two humans were found inside the stall.
But the ash preserved items showing everyday life of the city's inhabitants, serving as an archaeological gold mine.
These types of food stalls were common in Rome, and researchers have discovered 80 in Pompeii. But this stall was the first to be excavated in its entirety.
So what's on the menu for an ancient Roman street food vendor? The researchers found remnants of duck, goat, pig, fish and snails in earthen pots, sometimes combined in the same dish.
The storekeeper lowered the pots of hot food into circular holes in the counter. Crushed beans were found in a jar, likely used to modify the taste and color of wine.
A painting adorns a counter of a thermopolium, depicting two upside-down mallard ducks and a rooster. Luigi Spina/Archaeological Park of Pompeii
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Researchers discovered paintings of animals — including a rooster and ducks — possibly a menu to indicate some of the food sold at the stall. Archaeologists also found ceramic jars, wine flasks, amphora and a bronze patera — a drinking bowl.
A cistern, fountain and water fountain sit in the small square in front of the former business. And a painting of a sea nymph riding a sea horse decorates the counter.
A painting of a sea nymph riding a sea horse adorns one of the counters in the thermopolium. Luigi Spina/Archaeological Park of Pompeii
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Another illustration appears to be a depiction of the stall itself, almost like a logo or trademark.
The researchers said this is only the beginning of discoveries they made from the stall. More will be uncovered as the excavation continues and researchers run tests.
"The finds will be further [analyzed] in the laboratory," Osanna wrote in the statement, "and in particular those remains found in the dolia (terracotta containers) of the counter are expected to yield exceptional data for informing an understanding of what was sold and what the diet was like."
The thermopolium features several paintings such as this one in the Pompeii archaeological park. Luigi Spina/Archaeological Park of Pompeii
But no potatoes! That means their Gaullia cuisine would not include Gaullia Fries
How did they eat them? Like a clazone in bread? or a hot dog? Duck drumsticks? Hard boiled eggs? The sea nymph might have been a stall for fish covered in the stinky fish gut paste so loved by the Romans. As most people couldn’t read—pictures took the place of a menu (Literacy was at 20% the highest in the Ancient World).
Potatoes are a New World vegetable.................
The people living B.C. did not know that it was B.C.
The A.D.-B.C. calendar wasn't invented until about 533 A.D. and did not come into common use until ~ 1000 A.D.
And your point?
picky, picky, picky. ;)
One must wonder what Europeans ate before Columbus time?
Here’s a list of vegetables and fruits that were unknown to Europeans:
1. Blueberries
2. Chocolate (Cacao)
3. Corn (Maize)
4. Green Beans (and others)
5. Maple Syrup
6. Peppers (Many kinds)
7. Pineapples
8. Potatoes
9. Squashes
10. Tomatoes
11. Vanilla
12. Amaranth
13. Avocado
14. Cassava
15. Chia
16. Papaya
17. Sunflower
18. Peanut
19. Quinoa
20. Sweet Potato
21. Tomatillo
22. Cashews
23. Brazil Nuts
24. Pecans
25. Hickory Nuts
26. Black Walnuts
27. Guava
28. Strawberry
29. Persimmon
30. American Cranberry
They found goat Mcnuggets- and they did not age one bit!
That is a good list of new world edibles we take for granted today.
Romans would have eaten: beans, olives, peas, salads, onions, and brassicas (cabbage), meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, cheese, grains [wheat, millet, rye, oats, prepared as porridge & bread) and legumes. Meats like dormice (an expensive delicacy), hare, snails and boar. Smaller birds like thrushes were eaten as well as chickens and pheasants, clams, oysters (often farmed), octopus and most sea fish. Apples, pears, grapes, quince and pomegranate were common. Cherries, oranges, dates, lemons and oranges, honey, hard and soft cheeses.
see also: hard and soft cheeses
And don’t forget wine and beer to drink. I’m not sure about distilled spirits.
There are more, I just listed the most common that people would recognize.................
Sure, but the sellers only accept Roman currency.
Ancient snack stall uncovered in Pompeii, revealing bright frescoes and traces of 2,000-year-old street food
CNN | December 26, 2020 | Reuters
Posted on 12/26/2020, 4:33:41 PM by BenLurkin
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3919077/posts
Thanks Red Badger.
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