The man's skull still sports tufts of white hair. Archaeological Park of Pompeii
Posted on 11/14/2021 4:46:42 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Marcus Venerius Secundio died in his 60s decades before Mount Vesuvius’ eruption...
As Silvia Lambertucci reports for Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), the skeleton, which still has hair and a partially visible ear, belonged to a man who died in his 60s in the decades leading up to Pompeii’s destruction.
Per a statement from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, experts discovered the remains at the necropolis of Porta Sarno, just east of the ancient city center. An inscription on the man’s tomb identifies him as Marcus Venerius Secundio, a formerly enslaved individual who later became a priest...
The skeleton shows signs of partial mummification, suggesting Secundio may have been embalmed before his burial, reports Reuters’ Crispian Balmer. Ancient Romans used certain textiles to preserve corpses, and scholars found scraps of what appear to be fabric in the tomb.
According to ANSA, the find is unique because the Romans typically cremated adults’ remains, reserving burials for young children and infants. Two funerary urns, one of which was labeled Novia Amabilis, or “kind wife,” were found in Secundio’s tomb, notes Stephanie Pappas for Live Science.
Secundio served as the custodian of Pompeii’s Temple of Venus upon gaining his freedom from slavery. Inscriptions on his tomb indicate that he led ludi, or theater performances, in both Latin and Greek, offering researchers confirmation that the languages were used alongside each other in Pompeii...
Since 2012, the Great Pompeii Project, an ongoing conservation initiative funded largely by the European Union, has unearthed a stunning array of treasures in the ancient city, from a snack bar that served snails and fish to a sorceress’ kit. To date, experts have exhumed about two-thirds of the 165-acre settlement.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
(3 minutes, in Italian, with this caption in English, and good views of stuff)
A partially mummified skeleton with white hair and part of an ear still intact has been discovered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. The remains of wealthy 60-year-old Marcus Venerius Secundio, a former slave who rose through the social ranks and later put on theatre performances in Greek, were found in a tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno in an area not currently open to the public. The tomb is believed to date back to the decades before Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Archaeologists said it was 'one of the best-preserved skeletons ever found in the ancient city'. It is also unusual because deceased adults were usually cremated during Roman times, they added. The team from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii said the discovery sheds fresh light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed, presenting evidence of the Greek language being actively used alongside Latin.White hair and part of an ear, along with bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb, which was located in the east of Pompeii's urban centre.Meet Marcus Venerius Secundio | August 18, 2021 | Sergo UfoSergo
***..from a snack bar that served snails and fish***
From THE LIFE OF BRIAN
BRIAN: Larks’ tongues. Wrens’ livers. Chaffinch brains. Jaguars’ earlobes. Wolf nipple chips. Get ‘em while they’re hot. They’re lovely. Dromedary pretzels, only half a denar. Tuscany fried bats.
BRIAN: Larks’ tongues. Otters’ noses. Ocelot spleens.
REG: Got any nuts?
BRIAN: I haven’t got any nuts. Sorry. I’ve got wrens’ livers, badgers’ spleens—
REG: No, no, no.
BRIAN: Otters’ noses?
REG: I don’t want any of that Roman rubbish.
JUDITH: Why don’t you sell proper food?
BRIAN: Proper food?
REG: Yeah, not those rich imperialist tit-bits.
BRIAN: Well, don’t blame me. I didn’t ask to sell this stuff.
REG: All right. Bag of otters’ noses, then.
FRANCIS: Make it two.
“To date, experts have exhumed about two-thirds of the 165-acre settlement.”
In a lecture I learned that the slow progress is not from a lack of resources. It’s a deliberate policy.
Every dig destroys evidence. They want to leave some of the site for future generations who may have new technologies that could get useful info that is discarded by current practices.
Yup. The initial phase of digs did little to protect the finds (and the pre-archaeologist plundering by the local gentry looted an entire ancient theater, for example) and it was long thought that the best idea was no more digging. Lately they've been hot on the idea again. I say, screw it, the stuff still buried isn't going to improve with age, and neither am I. :^)
Weird coincidence, I was just starting a snack of ocelot spleens when I read your post! :^)
“ I say, screw it, the stuff still buried isn’t going to improve with age, and neither am I. :^) “.
Somebody get this man a hot tub time machine. 😏
“ I say, screw it, the stuff still buried isn’t going to improve with age, and neither am I. :^) “.
Somebody get this man a hot tub time machine. 😏
Was he vaccinated?
“...a formerly enslaved individual...”
In my culture, this is called “grave-robbing”.
I recently read an article several pages long about slaves, runaway slaves, and freedmen in a Southern town in the Civil War, which never once referred to them as slaves--always as "enslaved persons."
The ones packed in olive oil w/jalapenos are the best!
Larks’ tongues...are they in aspic, perchance?
The public are interested in these investigations and are willing to fund it. For example, the redux of Time Team. excavation methodology has improved considerably in recent years, especially the digital documentation of dig sites that will permit continuing research after the site is shut down.
Future societies and their governments may not favor these activities. We should go forward wherever and whenever we can.
He doesn’t look a day over 1900 years old.
It seems that Pompeii was full of sexual art, for example, a statue of the god Pan copulating with a goat, or art works depicting an obsession with the god Priapus.
“They [artifacts] reveal a more shocking side of Pompeii. The deeper historians dig the more unsettling details emerge of an elaborate system of sex in this ancient city.”
“The clues are everywhere, from stone phalluses on public streets to crude graffiti carved into granite walls. They appear to reveal a population trading in decadence, perversion, prostitution and sexual slavery.”
You’re right. I hated that faddish sriracha spleen.
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