Excavations in Somma Vesuviana (NA), ITALY

Some aligned huge pots

We found some huge pots in the north end of the excavation in 2008 and 2009.
We filled them up with lumps of inflated clay to prevent from its collapsing.

Through this work we could measure the capacity of each of them also.
The average capacity of them is about 1,500 liters.

In front of the doorway

It is still unknown why they leaned some roofing tiles and a limestone threshold plate on a wall on top of the layer of volcanic scoriae.



And after the removal of tiles
We found a fragment of the right foot of a marble statue.

And one more fragment of a statue

We found another fragment of a marble statue during the excavation of this layer.

It may be a part of the left shoulder of a statue, but it couldn't derive from the same statue of which the right foot was found in neighborhood yesterday.

A stamped material

We found a fragment of ceramic with stamp. It could be a lid of a huge pot.

A fragment of another marble statue

During the excavation of this layer we found a fragment of another marble statue.


It may represent the right foot of a small child.

The huge pots

We removed the lid of a huge pot settled in the ground.












The mouth of the pot was sealed very well with its lid and clay around it.
And more than 1500 years have passed.


A secret weapon to pick up samples from the bottom of the pot














We found some residuals in the bottom of it and on the inner surface.






We will analyze some of these residuals.
What was filled in these huge pots?

Side pillar of a gate

We found a fragment of a decorated side pillar of a gate during the excavation in the cistern.


It is made of marble,


and we can see carved relief decorations on both side of it.

A fragment of a marble statue

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We found a fragment of a marble statue among the scattered materials in this area. It is a woman's right hand holding a small bowl.
Unluckily we couldn't find any other fragment of this statue in neighborhood.

what's this ?

During the excavation in the cistern we found a metal object with some wooden materials attached.
It was so fragile that we picked it up by using the foam polyurethane.

Some more huge pots aligned and settled in the earth