11 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists Uncover Elegant Rare Blue Frescoes of an Ancient Sanctuary in Pompeii

Archaeologists digging away at ash covering the ancient city of Pompeii have uncovered a room with walls frescoed in an unusual and sublime sky blue.

In Pompeii’s Regio IX neighborhood, the area known as Insula 10 is still being excavated by archaeologists. Archaeologists are still excavating this area, and a recent discovery includes a gorgeous sky-blue sacrarium, a place for ritual and the preservation of holy artifacts—brilliant red lines the niches, where statues and other devotional iconography likely stood.

The 8-square-meter room is decorated in the Fourth Style (c. 60–79 C.E.), an intricate aesthetic that was less ornamental than its predecessor but took a more narrative and architectural approach. Against the azure background, female figures pose gracefully, their garments blowing in the breeze. Four of the women represent the seasons. Two are allegories of agriculture and pastoralism, the former indicated by a plow, the latter by the pedum, a short staff used by shepherds.

Photo: Archaeological Park of Pompeii

When Mount Vesuvius erupted, researchers think the room was being used for storage as part of a larger renovation. In addition to building supplies and a stack of empty oyster shells that were probably intended to be ground and added to plaster, the team discovered 15 amphorae, two jugs, and two lamps in the area.

Pompeiians typically reserved blue for the most sacred of spaces, and neither the color nor the accompanying frescoes appear in a discovery nearby. Therefore, the team suggested that the room was used for pagan rituals and storing sacred objects as the blue color has only been found in places of great importance.

As noted by the History Blog, archaeologists also excavated the servants’ quarters of the villa of Civita Giuliana, a stark contrast to the sacrarium. In the servants’ quarters of the villa of Civita Giuliana, another exceptional discovery of work tools and supplies shows how the other half lived.

There are no glorious frescoes in this small space. The room contained a bed, work tools, a basket, rope, and wooden planks, the shapes of which were preserved by volcanic matter, and researchers were able to recreate their forms in plaster.

Archaeologists explain: “As the ash solidified, forming a very solid layer known as “cinerite,” organic material such as human bodies, animals, or wooden objects decayed, leaving a void in the ground. These voids can be filled with plaster during excavation, to regain the original shape from the “negative” impression. A technique that led to extraordinary results in the villa of Civita Giuliana, from the casts of two victims and a horse to those of the modest beds in the servile quarter.”

POMPEII

Cover Photo: Archaeological Park of Pompeii

Related Articles

5000-year-old jewelry factory found in Rakhi Garhi in India’s Indus Valley region

9 May 2022

9 May 2022

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has made an important discovery by finding the remains of a 5000-year-old jewelry factory...

Archaeologists found 5 unique sculptures representing the Kakatiya art style in Siddipet

19 July 2021

19 July 2021

13th-century statues were found near a temple tank in the Siddipet district in the northern province of Telangana, India. On...

Ancient Roman Fast Food: Songbirds Were a Popular Snack in 1st-Century Mallorca

11 June 2025

11 June 2025

Roman fast food, ancient Roman cuisine, song thrush consumption, Roman street food, Mallorca archaeology, Pollentia findings, Roman bird bones, ancient...

Scientists discover 4 new Nazca Geoglyphs using AI deep learning

4 June 2023

4 June 2023

Scientists from Japan used AI deep learning to discover new geoglyphs in the Arid Peruvian coastal plain, in the northern...

A Mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman Statue Unearthed During Car Park Construction Work in UK

13 March 2024

13 March 2024

A 1,800-year-old Roman marble statue of a woman’s head was discovered during construction in the parking lot of Burghley House...

Ancient Three Fortresses: Layered Defense on Egypt’s Eastern Border at Tell Abu Saifi

11 May 2025

11 May 2025

Archaeological excavations at the strategically significant Tell Abu Saifi site in North Sinai have unearthed compelling evidence of Egypt’s long-standing...

Medieval ‘Testicle Dagger’ Unearthed at Swedish Fortress

19 May 2025

19 May 2025

Archaeologists in Gothenburg, southwestern Sweden, have made a rather striking discovery at the site of the ancient Gullberg Fortress: a...

Archaeologists unearths Unique Tomb of 6th Century BC Egyptian Commander at the archaeological area of ​​Abu Sir

24 July 2022

24 July 2022

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced on July 15 that a team of Czech archaeologists, while excavating near the Giza...

From Caves to Mounds: The Enigmatic Burial Practices of the Southern Jê in Brazil

25 February 2025

25 February 2025

A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology sheds light on the enigmatic burial practices of the Southern...

An inscription containing the Turk name was discovered for the first time in Anatolia

3 September 2022

3 September 2022

For the first time in the pre-Islamic Early period Turkish history, an inscription bearing the inscription expression “Turk” and written...

The world’s oldest wine discovered in liquid form was found in a Roman tomb in Spain

18 June 2024

18 June 2024

Archaeologists discovered an urn with a reddish liquid in a family mausoleum dating to the 1st century AD in the...

DNA from human remains found in medieval well shines new light into a significant historical crime and into Ashkenazi Jewish history

30 November 2022

30 November 2022

An analysis of DNA from 12th-century human remains has provided new insights into a significant historical crime and into Ashkenazi...

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will launch “The Painters of Pompeii” on June 26

23 June 2021

23 June 2021

A number of collection highlights will travel to North America for the first time as part of the exhibition The...

The remains of two new Doric temples are discovered under the Italian site of Paestum

15 January 2024

15 January 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed two new temples in the Doric style in Paestum, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. The...

Marmore, the Highest and Oldest Artificial Waterfall in Europe, Created by the Romans

4 March 2024

4 March 2024

Approximately eight kilometers away from the town of Terni in Umbria, Italy, there is a waterfall that is one of...