The hands of an archaeologist meticulously clean the remains of the turtle found in the excavations of Pompeii. Inside they found an egg. Photo: AFP
The almost intact shell, the intact head, as well as the tail, and one of the legs of a terrestrial turtle with its never laid egg are the latest surprise of the archaeological excavations of Pompeii, in southern Italy.
Archaeologists found it under the floor of a shop where the remains of a house destroyed by the earthquake of 62 AD are investigated
According to the revelations to ANSA, the experts noted the “surprise” half a meter deep under the dirt floor of a house in the central Via dell’Abbondanza, where a joint investigation between the Eastern University of Naples, the Freie Universitat of Berlin and the University of Oxford is exploring the remains of a luxurious farm, which after the earthquake was mysteriously demolished and annexed to the public baths of Stabian.
The shell was unearthed and stored for future structural cleaning. Photo: ANSA
“Pompeii, a treasure trove of history that fascinates the world”, said the Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Dario Franceschini. This is an important discovery, explains the director of the Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, «that opens a window on the last years of the city“, those following the earthquake,” in which the whole of Pompeii was transformed into a single large and throbbing construction site “.
According to the director, in this situation, the ecosystem of the country has changed, with wild animals that have found their space in the construction in progress or in houses or shops like this one, right in the center. Evidently the turtle must have entered the tavern “and there, in a sheltered corner, he dug a cave to lay his egg“, underlines the anthropologist Valeria Amoretti.” He did not succeed and this could have caused his death “, he completed.
The head of the turtle found in Pompeii was also in excellent condition. Photo: EFE
The research will now continue in the laboratory, but in the meantime, with the help in the field of the students of the Neapolitan university, the floors and decorations of the magnificent house are coming to light which originally occupied those spaces. A residence of absolute value, underline Marco Giglio of the Oriental University and Monika Trumper of the University of Berlin.
The house, between corridors and patios, stretched along 900 sqm in a very central area of the city. With mosaic floors which, due to their complexity and beauty, the experts underline, can be compared to those of Villa of the Mysteries wave House of Ceresadorned with refined and rare designs that in some cases reproduce the wonders of Roman architecture, such as the long aqueduct that appeared on the floor of the tablinum (something like an office in Roman houses).
Remains of the turtle egg found in an excavation in Pompeii. Photo: AFP
A luxury that the excavations of the last few weeks have also returned through fragments of what it was: polychrome marble clogs, ora nice little terracotta maskalso a painted shell that he must have sported somewhere.
Unfortunately, only two fragments remain of the walls, small but with a strong impact elaborate wall paintings and colored in the second style, the one in vogue in the first century. B. C
And not only that: in another corner where the turtle was found, where originally the entrance to the domus must have been (this is how Roman houses are called), archaeologists have found a votive well, a hole dug on the occasion of the foundation of the house, with remains of burnt wood and auspicious offerings for the gods. A widespread practice in the Roman world, Giglio emphasizes, but hardly investigable in Pompeii.
A masterful apartment was discovered in a palace in the ruins of Pompeii. Photo: ANSA.
Among the embers there was still the broken pot that had contained the offerings along with a small lamp. And of this, datable to the beginning of the first century BC C., explains Giglio, “the proof has arrived that this house was actually built in first half of the 1st century BC. “. Perhaps immediately after 80 BC, he adds, when after the siege of Silla, the city suffered the embarrassment of its transformation into a Roman colony.
It remains a mystery who the rich owner was: perhaps a Roman major, a senior army officer, or perhaps a Pompeian who had encouraged Sulla. The professor has no doubts: “Of course the owner was an eminent figure in Pompeian life”, reasons Giglio. “Now we can’t say more, we hope to understand more in the next excavation campaignin 2023 “, he later warned.
It remains to be seen why, 150 years after its construction, this splendid mansion was razed to the ground. In this regard, only hypotheses can be ventured: perhaps the earthquake had damaged it so much that it was better to repair it or perhaps, as documented in other Pompeian situations, the fear experienced by the earthquake convinced the owners of move to a safer place. It could also happen that the original owners fell into decline.
The excavations were carried out in a place separate from tourists, in what was the mansion of a prominent figure of ancient Pompeii. Photo: AP
Even after the earthquake it could happen that the values of the houses collapsed and that the property passed into the hands of the municipal administration that decided set up a spa for baths, construction of a new large swimming pool with running water, spectacular nymphaeums (monuments to the nymphs), ultra-modern and super-technological environments for the time
Trumper and Giglio have no doubts: “Here it was built relentlessly and look to the future with confidence. Nobody really had any idea of the catastrophe that would soon arrive in Pompeii “from Vesuvius. (ANSA)
Source: Clarin
