Archaeologists Uncover a Fresco in Pompeii with a Tacky Pizza-Like Dish Served on a Silver Platter — Colossal



Artwork
Meals
Historical past

#archaeology
#Italy
#pizza

All photos courtesy of Archeological Park of Pompeii

Pompeiians—they’re identical to us! Hungry for pizza.

Earlier this yr, archaeologists excavating a block of homes in Regio IX of the Vesuvian metropolis uncovered a fresco that exhibits a spherical, doughy dish resembling the trendy favourite. Researchers had been fast to level out that pizza, as we all know it as we speak, hadn’t been invented when the two,000-year-old portray was created, though the traditional civilization did take pleasure in foccacia, a cousin of the tomato and cheese-covered pie.

This dish seems topped with pomegranate, spices, and a tacky pesto generally known as moretum. Served on a silver platter accompanied by dried fruit, yellow strawberries, and a chalice crammed with wine, the focaccia seemingly represents a “reward of hospitality,” in response to the Archeological Park of Pompeii. These choices to friends emerged from the Hellenistic interval and the Greek apply of Xenia, which additionally describes the style of work depicting this custom.

Roughly 300 frescoes of historic meals have been discovered round Pompeii, though this nonetheless life is especially effectively executed. Whereas the work gives perception into what the buried civilization ate, director Gabriel Zuchtriegel says it additionally has implications for the way we perceive the evolution of meals and wealth, sharing:

I take into consideration the distinction between a modest and easy meal that reminds us of a sphere that stands between the pastoral and the sacred on one aspect, and the luxurious of the silver trays and the refinement of the inventive and literary representations on the alternative aspect. When contemplating this matter, how can we not take into consideration pizza, additionally born as a ‘poor’ dish in southern Italy that has now conquered the world and is served in Michelin star eating places.

This discovery comes three years after archaeologists in Pompeii uncovered an impeccably preserved snack store that served up fish, fowl, and naturally, loads of wine.

#archaeology
#Italy
#pizza

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