Archaeologists near the ancient city of Pompeii have unearthed a bedroom likely used by slaves, which helps shed new light on what life looked like for people of lower classes around 2,000 years ago.
The room was found in the Villa Civita Giuliana, about 600 metres north of Pompeii, Italy, which was buried in volcanic ash by nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Archaeologists said Sunday that they found two beds, two small cupboards and various ceramic vessels and pots in the room, which they presume was used by slaves as a bedroom and storage room.
The difference in the beds, one bare and without a mattress and the other more comfortable-looking, suggests there may have been a hierarchy in the servants' quarters, excavators said.
In a way, the discovery is "more important & revealing of ancient life than a beautiful statue," wrote the German museum director of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, on the online platform X, formerly Twitter.
Excavators reconstructed the room using the trusted method of filling cavities left by organic material in the ash with plaster.
An inspection of the ceramics and pottery has revealed the precarious and unhygienic conditions under which the people lived, according to the report.
For one, the slaves shared their room with at least three rodents. One of the rats, which was in a crate under a bed, looked as though it was trying to escape when it too died in an instant, like Pompeii's other inhabitants.
The piles of ash, mud and lava have famously helped preserve the ancient city. It was rediscovered in the 18th century and now serves as one of Italy's most popular tourist hotspots, but also a crucial site of archaeologists.
