A monumental grave adorned with a bas -relief that presents two human figures, made almost in natural size and believed to be a young married couple, was unearthed during the archaeological excavations made in the ancient city of Pompeii in southern Italy.
The University of Valencia announced on Tuesday that the funeral bas -relief was found during a excavation that started in July 2024 as part of the research project ‘Investigation of the archeology of death in Pompeii’, informs the DPA.
The area, investigated from July 2024, located east by Porta Sarno, corresponds to a portion excavated in the 1990s for the construction of the CircuVsuvian regional railway network. At that time, over 50 incineration tombs and a funeral monument with an arch had been identified.
According to archaeologists, the carved accessories of the wife ‘I can identify her as a priest of Ceres’, while the husband, who measured 175 centimeters in height, seemed to be a ‘Roman citizen who is distinguished by wearing a toga’.
“The quality of the sculptures and their archaic characteristics suggest once during the Republic, a rare discovery in southern Italy,” archaeologists said in an article published in the E-Journal of the Pompeii Excavations.
“This investigation is a precious opportunity to expand the search and appreciation activities in the area outside the ancient city of Pompeii,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the German director of this archaeological site.
Pompeii, located at the foot of the Vezuviu volcano, was covered with ash, mud and lava in 79 AD. after several volcanic eruptions. The ancient city was rediscovered in the eighteenth century, and the excavation site is currently one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.
The preserved remnants of the dead and destruction of Pompeii offers today a unique perspective on people’s lives at that time.
