Ancient leftovers show snail-fish soup was a Pompeii snack

ROME • Wine turned white with crushed fava beans. A soupy concoction of snails, sheep and fish.

If these do not sound particularly appetising today, they appear to have been all the rage in ancient Pompeii, as evidenced by ancient leftovers found during excavations this month at the archaeological site of the former Roman city.

They were found in a thermopolium, or snack bar, serving street food popular in AD79.

Two years after it was first partly unearthed, archaeologists began to excavate the interior of the shop in October.

This month, they found food and drink residue that is expected to provide fresh clues about the ancient population's culinary tastes.

The dig offers new insight into daily life in Pompeii and represents the first time an area of this type has been excavated in its entirety and analysed with modern technology, Professor Massimo Osanna, the departing director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement last Saturday.

Human life in Pompeii came to an abrupt halt nearly 2,000 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and spilt lapilli, ash and rock onto the ancient Roman city, preserving it in time.

Over the centuries, Pompeii became a powerful symbol of the transience of life and human impotence when nature unleashes its power.

Since excavations began in 1748, fragments of the ancient civilisation have continued to emerge, providing clues to archaeologists and historians on how residents might have lived, dressed and eaten.

About 80 thermopolii have been found at Pompeii, where residents could choose food from containers set into street-front counters.

The one excavated this month included a large dolium, or earthenware vessel, that had contained wine.

"It was full of lapilli, and removing them released a very intense aroma of wine," said Ms Teresa Virtuoso, the archaeologist overseeing the team excavating the site. "It was so strong we could smell it through our masks."

Although the archaeological park has been closed for part of this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, excavations have continued, with archaeologists taking precautions.

In another dolium, they found the skeletal remains of a mouse, suggesting the vessel might have contained grains of some kind and that the mouse - like the residents of ancient Pompeii - fell victim to the eruption, Ms Virtuoso said.

The contents of two other jars have yet to be analysed, but Dr Chiara Corbino, the archaeozoologist involved in the dig, said it appeared that they contained two kinds of dishes: a pork and fish combination found "in other contexts at Pompeii", and a concoction involving snails, fish and sheep, perhaps a soup or stew.

Further analysis is expected to determine whether vegetables were part of the ancient recipe.

"We will analyse the contents to determine the ingredients and better understand what kind of dish it was," she said.

For now, she thinks the thermopolium probably served a stew or soup that included "all these animals together".

The remains of at least two people were found inside the shop.

Archaeologists believe that tomb robbers moved the bones in the 17th century because the skeletons found this month were not intact.

Italy's culture minister Dario Franceschini said last Saturday that the excavations at Pompeii continued to deliver extraordinary discoveries. "Today, Pompeii is indicated in the world as an example of protection and management," he said in a statement.

NYTIMES