Amphora tombs found in pre-Roman cemeteries

A pre-Roman cemetery has been discovered a quarter mile outside the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Excavations have so far revealed 35 tombs dating from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. The tombs were simple earth pits, half covered or covered with amphorae.

The amphorae covering the tomb were all arranged in alternating patterns of neck and top. The covering consisted of seven amphorae from North Africa. Some of them were inscribed with maker’s marks in Punic. The grave goods in the tomb were few and simple – small ointment jars and coins. The human remains were submerged in groundwater, so the skeletal remains were well preserved.

The cemetery was discovered during precautionary archaeological excavations ahead of the construction of an underground parking garage next to Pompeii train station on the eastern outskirts of the ancient city. The excavations also revealed large tracts of cultivated land from Roman times, just beneath a layer of pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the city in 79 AD. The gullies and ridges run from north to south, close to the old course of the Sarno River, which is now farther from the city.

The plots were used to grow vegetables, providing Pompeii’s homes, shops and markets with fresh produce every day. Analysis of organic residues and pollen is currently underway to determine what vegetables were grown, but the roots and distribution of the residues suggest that perennial artichokes were grown there.

Other pre-Roman objects were found in a canal made of material believed to be rubble from destroyed tombs. Artifacts found in the canal include hundreds of tile fragments, amphorae and taulia (giant storage amphorae), about 20 small columns made of lava stone, tiles printed in the local Oscan language, a female head made of grey Campanian tuff with residual traces of red paint in the hair, and even some unusually large wooden objects. Archaeologists believe the canal was built shortly after Sulla’s siege of Pompeii in 89 BC, during the Social War, which pitted Rome against the previously allied peoples of Italy. Sulla’s conquest of Pompeii led to a massive territorial reorganization and reconstruction of the city and its surroundings.