A Fast Food Joint in Pompeii
Okay, this one was announced in the last week of 2020, but humor us, as it didn’t get onto last year’s list. Pompeii (and the nearby town of Herculaneum) are famous for the preserved remains of their cityscapes and citizens, which were buried in volcanic ash after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Last December, archaeologists in Pompeii announced the discovery of a well-preserved thermopolium, or food-and-drink stand. Thermopolia sold food doled out of amphorae that was to be eaten on the go. The remains of food items like duck, swine, goat, fish, land snail, and beans were found on the site; perhaps some of it was eaten on the very day of the eruption. The find is yet another that makes the ancient past feel like it was just yesterday.
