NAPLES, ITALY—The Associated Press reports that excavation of the House of the Lararium, a five-room structure discovered at Pompeii in 2018, has uncovered a collection of household objects, including a translucent blue and green rimmed plate and a cradle-shaped incense burner. The site was named for an area in the home’s courtyard that was dedicated to domestic spirits known as lares, according to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director general of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. The cistern in the courtyard was decorated, he added. The remains of a bed frame and traces of a fabric pillow; a round three-legged table; and a wooden trunk with an open lid were found in one of the rooms. The trunk held an oil lamp decorated with an image of the Greek god Zeus being transformed into an eagle. A closet made of wood with at least four panel doors was found in another room near the kitchen. Cookware and dishes would have been stored on its shelves, Zuchtriegel said. People who lived in such homes would have been ambitious social climbers, but were still vulnerable during political crises and food shortages, he concluded. To read about a nearly intact chariot discovered at a villa near Pompeii, go to “A Ride Through the Countryside.”

Source: archaeology.org