Discoveries and news in Rome

Preserved under volcanic ash, the monuments of Pompeii, a city affected by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, are endangered by the Italian bureaucracy and heavy rainfall. The city was discovered by archaeologists in the 18th century and to this day is a unique source of knowledge about the everyday life of the Romans.

Scientists emphasize in “Journal of Archaeological Science” from 2015 that female children did not account for the vast majority of infanticide victims. It was customary to think that at birth, the Romans spared the male offspring more often due to the obvious gender imbalance at the time.

Discovered in 1990 in central London, the human remains were thoroughly investigated. As it turned out, the numerous severed heads left in the mass grave come from the period between 120 and 160 CE.

In August this year, researchers found the remains of a man named Marcus Venerius Secundio in Pompeii. The man is known by name thanks to the inscription from the tombstone.

In 2016, mysterious scrolls made of gold and silver with mysterious inscriptions were discovered in Serbia. The items were next to the buried bodies.

More than 5,000 Roman finds in Aylsham, England were discovered during one week of excavations in 2016.

Ostia Antica was a port of Rome that derived its name from the word os, meaning “mouth”. We can admire this great port in all its glory thanks to computer reconstruction.

Recent studies of ancient sediments from around Rome confirm that the inhabitants of the Eternal City drank lead-poisoned water. Thirty years ago, the Nigerian geochemist Jerome Nriagu published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in which he stated that the massive lead poisoning of the inhabitants of the Eternal City had a huge impact on the fall of Rome.

Ancient Romans used lead pipes to store fresh food. We now know that this is just one of many examples of Roman engineering genius. More specifically, it’s a fish tank.

Excavations from the Roman forum show that the city can date back to 900 BCE. Scientists using the latest technologies in 2015 discovered walls made of some kind of calcium. Fragments of pottery and grains were also found.