NEW DISCOVERIES IN POMPEI --- REGIO V -- SHOW VIVID PIX OF ANCIENT ROMAN LIFE

Not a day goes by without new archaeological discoveries in Regio V, a hitherto largely unexplored area of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted, spewing hot ash and rubble over the settlement and killing over 1,000 of its inhabitants. According to Laura D’Esposito, one of the many experts toiling away to uncover the buried remains of Pompeii, the site has become an area of archaeological interest unmatched by any other.

This was the first time the press had been invited for a tour of the Regio V site since archaeologists began the painstaking work of excavation there a year ago. Since then, experts have uncovered three new domus residences, which once housed the upper echelons of Roman society. The vibrant walls, often red in typical Pompeii fashion and only slightly dulled by the passage of time, slowly come to light as excavators chip away at the layers of encrusted ash.

One such domus was dubbed the “house of the dolphins” after a depiction of two golden dolphins adorning its interior wall. Teams on site have also found upturned Roman pots and jugs, left in situ where they were laid out in the sun to dry on that fateful day.

These relics owe their well-preserved condition to the fact that they have spent the better part of two millennia suspended in a pile of ash and rubble sandwiched between the ground and a collapsing wall.

Perhaps the best-known finding in Regio V so far is the skeleton of a man whose flight from the eruption was brought to an abrupt end when a huge rock smashed him in the face. Images of his remains were shared by media the world over.