Pork, goat, fish and beans to go? The ancient Romans picked up hot food on the run, as did the New Yorkers.
Images of a newly discovered and beautifully decorated street food cart in Pompeii reveal what Romans fast food would have enjoyed before the ancient city was destroyed in a volcano eruption almost 2,000 years ago.
The impressive discovery marks the first time that a hot food and drink restaurant – known as a thermopoly – has been excavated in Pompeii, Massimo Osanna, longtime chief of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said on Saturday.
A portion of the street vendor’s counter was excavated last year as part of the effort to shore up the ruins of the ancient city. As the excavation continued, archaeologists discovered a multi-sided counter with wide holes containing deep containers for hot food placed on top, not unlike the configuration of modern salad bars.
The balcony is decorated with frescoes with images of an underwater nymph riding a horse, two upside-down wild ducks and a rooster, and a dog on a leash. The interior of the painting’s frame was vandalized with vulgar graffiti.
The images of the duck and the chicken represent what was on the menu that day, say anthropologists. Fragment of duck bone was found in one of the containers along with remains of goats, pigs, fish and snails. A wine container contained traces of ground fava beans, which were added to the old wine to add flavor and color, according to anthropologist Valeria Amoretti, from Pompeii.
“We know what they ate that day,” said Osanna. The remains of the food show “what is popular with the people,” said Osanna, noting that street food was not frequented by the Roman elite.
Workers also dug up a bronze shell, nine amphorae, which were containers of food popular in Roman times, a few bottles, a ceramic container for oil and the complete skeleton of a dog.
The canine skeleton surprised archaeologists because of its small height of 20 to 25 centimeters; a discovery that “attests to selective breeding in Roman times to achieve this result,” said Amoretti.
As any self-respecting New York street vendor knows: location is everything. Scientists noticed that this restaurant appeared to have a good restaurant, next to a small square with a fountain.
Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
Wired AP