Ancient sewer reveals Roman diet
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Sewers give up evidence of Roman diets
A number of years ago I lived in Naples, Italy, overlooking the Bay of Naples, and Mount Vesuvius. The volcano continuously spewed smoke and we were aware that at its foot were the twin towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but we weren’t aware of the massive amounts of evidence of life in the days when the cities were alive.
Here is the interesting story from our friends at the BBC:
Researchers have discovered the biggest load of crap from ancient Rome, and they’re using it to determine how Romans lived 2,000 years ago. After sifting through 750 sacks of human excrement discovered in the sewers below the town of Herculaneum, scientists have deduced that Romans ate a lot of vegetables, sea urchins, fish, figs, olives, and eggs, report the BBC and Daily Mail. The waste also had a high white blood cell count, indicating a bacterial infection.
“We can find out such a lot about what Romans ate by sifting through the poo and in essence it is the classic Mediterranean Diet, plenty of fish and fruit,” says one of the leading researchers. Along with its neighbor Pompeii, Herculaneum was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The sewer also had pottery, coins, beads, and jewelry, but it’s the human remains that have most astonished the archaeologists, all going to prove that where there’s muck, there’s memory.
Life in Naples was interesting to say the least. Have you traveled to Europe, specifically to Southern Italy? What do you think about the latest discovery telling us about the Roman diet?
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Not for consumption while eating. ; )