Spirituality

A Pompeii wardrobe held a child's protective necklace and household goods

Archaeologists found a child's protective necklace among household goods in a Pompeii wardrobe, Discover Magazine reports. The necklace, known as a crepundia, was kept alongside cosmetics, vessels, coins and other objects in a house on Via dell'Abbondanza, one of the ancient city's main streets.

The Pompeii Archaeological Park said the house was first excavated in 1912 and that work is now underway in the areas around it, CBS News reported. Pompeii was buried by ash and volcanic debris from Mount Vesuvius when the volcano erupted in A.D. 79.

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The necklace carried miniature amulets#

The necklace contains at least 20 miniature objects, with materials including bone and crystal, CBS News reported. It represents multiple deities and might have been considered magical in the Roman era, according to the archaeological park.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director general of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, told Discover that the necklace's small amulets were given to children as protection against evil. An amulet is an object believed to offer its owner protection or grace, according to the encyclopedia entry on the practice.

CBS News reports that many people kept the necklaces into adulthood as childhood mementos, according to the park. The park said people across Roman society, from enslaved people to wealthy merchants, often lived far from their families and childhood homes.

Coins and cosmetics filled the wardrobe#

Discover reported that the wardrobe contained an incense burner, a bronze lamp and cooking vessels in ceramic, glass and bronze. Objects associated with personal care included a perfume bottle, tweezers and a glass jar for ointment. A small mortar called a coticula was used to grind pigments for makeup.

Archaeologists also found 38 bronze coins in a container made of plant material, CBS News reported. Researchers think the coins' presence suggests the owner or owners did not have time to retrieve valuables. Weights that were probably used for commercial activity were found in a wooden chest of drawers.

The findings add to a site where roughly two-thirds has been excavated, according to Discover. The park said the investigation of the areas around the previously excavated house is underway.

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