Archaeologists find ancient furniture and personal belongings in Pompeii

Archaeologists discovered the remains of a wooden cabinet in a house in the center of Pompeii, Italy.

The discovery occurred during ongoing excavations in the city, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The furniture was located in house IX 11,7, a site where researchers have been working for centuries to uncover the lives of those who lived there. The cabinet contained a variety of personal items that suggest a woman lived in the home.

Among these objects, researchers found makeup tools including tweezers, a glass perfume flask, a censer, and a bronze lamp. The team also found vases, bronze pots, glass, and ceramics. Additionally, a wooden box containing lead weights suggests that a resident of the house may have been involved in trade. Other significant finds include a necklace made of about 24 pendants crafted from faience, bone, glass paste, and rock crystal. These pendants depict deities, hands, feet, pine cones, and grapes.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Archaeological Park, says the necklace was likely a krepundia, a protective amulet parents placed on children to ward off harm and track their location. The items were found inside a cloth bag within the cabinet. The researchers also found a small plant-based container called a cistella holding 38 bronze coins.

Zuchtriegel says the presence of these personal items and money suggests the residents may have fled in a hurry during the final moments of the eruption.