Scientists have discovered what the doomed city of Pompeii smelled like before it was buried by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago.
Analysis of the residues preserved inside two ancient terracotta incense burners has revealed traces of several woody plants including oak and laurel, alongside stone–fruit species such as mulberry.
These were likely burned during domestic religious rituals, archaeologists said.
One of the burners also contained remnants of an aromatic resin – possibly frankincense or a similar substance called elemi.
When burned as incense, this smells like fresh lemon peel and crushed pine needles, providing a light, citrusy scent.
The team also found evidence for grape products – likely wine – that could have been used as an offering.
This means an earthy, woody, sweet scent would have permeated the city before it was buried in ash.
‘The combination of advanced chemical and microscopic analytical methods makes the religious daily life of the people of Pompeii tangible,’ co–author Philipp W. Stockhammer, from LMU Munich, said.
One terracotta burner had been unearthed from a building that was being converted into an inn when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79
The other was discovered still sitting inside a household shrine in a rural villa located in the nearby town of Boscoreale
For the study the team, led by scientists at the University of Zurich, examined two terracotta incense burners that had been excavated decades ago from Pompeii and the nearby town of Boscoreale.
One had been unearthed from a building that was being converted into an inn when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.
The other was discovered still sitting inside a household shrine in a rural villa.
Analysis suggests they were both used to burn fragrant offerings to Roman gods during domestic ceremonies.
‘Ancient literary sources and visual representations show that the Romans burnt aromatic substances, such as frankincense, as well as various plants and herbs on their altars as offerings to the gods’, lead author Dr Johannes Eber said.
‘At several Pompeian altars, ashes and burnt residues have been preserved, though they have only rarely been subjected to detailed analysis.’
The researchers used advanced chemical analysis to identify organic residues preserved in the vessels, allowing them to work out which plants and aromatic substances had been used.
The team then compared the chemical signatures with those of modern plant materials and known resins to identify their likely sources – revealing a mix of woody plants, members of the stone–fruit family and various grasses.
When the incense burner was first discovered it was covered in ash and surrounded by debris from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Analysis of the residues preserved inside two ancient terracotta incense burners has revealed traces of several woody plants including oak and laurel, alongside stone–fruit species such as mulberry
They discovered the frankincense–like substance that had been burned more than 2,000 years ago was not sourced from southern Arabia, where most frankincense used in the Roman Empire came from. Instead, it was likely obtained from India or sub–Saharan Africa.
This provides rare evidence of the great length Pompeii’s Romans went to in order to facilitate their everyday household worship, the researchers said.
‘We’ve long known from ancient writers that the Romans burnt frankincense in their sacrifices’, Dr Eber said.
‘Now, archaeology confirms it: an incense burner with preserved ashes and traces of fragrant resins from a domestic shrine near Pompeii provides tangible proof – and a striking reminder of just how globalised the ancient world truly was.’
One of the burners also contained possible chemical signatures of grape products, perhaps wine or vinegar.
This would tie in with ancient texts which describe sacrifices in which worshippers poured wine while simultaneously burning incense.
‘By using a combination of different analytical methods, we can gain a broader understanding of the different substances that were burnt inside Pompeian censers,’ the team wrote in the journal Antiquity.
‘The results indicate that woody plants were burnt in both censers, either as fuel or offerings, alongside stone fruit or laurel plants and possibly wine or grapes… providing the first archaeological evidence of incense offerings in the Pompeian domestic cult.’
The eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago is considered one of the biggest natural disasters of the ancient world.
At least 2,000 people were killed as they attempted to flee the volcano’s pyroclastic flow, an avalanche of gas, ash and rock reaching 800°C (1,500°F) and travelling at 450 miles per hour (700 km/h).
Last month, a stunning fresco buried beneath the ashes of Pompeii was brought back to life in remarkable detail.
The vibrant painting, which depicts a famous scene in Greek mythology, once decorated the vaulted ceiling of a dining room where guests gathered for lavish banquets.
It offers a glimpse at the artistic splendour that decorated Pompeii’s elite homes before the doomed city was frozen in time by one of history’s most devastating volcanic eruptions.
How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago
What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge.
Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C.
An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance.
Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century.
His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow
He said that a column of smoke ‘like an umbrella pine’ rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night.
People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.
While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano’s column to collapse.
An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life.
Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano
As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge.
While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be ‘exceptional’ and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000.
What have they found?
This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later.
The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city.
In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues.
A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day
Some of the balconies even had amphorae – the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.
The discovery has been hailed as a ‘complete novelty’ – and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.
Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble.
Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day.
