World News | Past

Pompeii has more to discover

While investigations into Pompeii have been ongoing for centuries, much of the site remains unexplored and new excavations have recently begun in a previously unexamined area. The goal of this new project is to excavate an area of ​​about 3,200 square meters along via di Nola at Insula 10 in Regio IX, roughly the size of an entire ancient city block.

Meanwhile, work in other areas of the site has revealed new discoveries, suggesting that previously surveyed parts of Pompeii still have secrets to share. A recent re-excavation of the Stabian Baths, discovered in the 1850s, revealed the remains of a large house with intricate mosaic floors. The house appears to have been abandoned after an earthquake in AD 62 and was subsequently demolished to make room for the extension of the bathroom.

Large cave art panel discovered in Spain

An 8m long panel with more than 100 prehistoric carvings was found in the Cova de la Vila cave in La Febru, Catalonia, Spain. Although the complex was first discovered in the 1940s, it quickly disappeared and was only rediscovered in 2012 by researchers from IPHES (Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Catalonia). However, the small room where this new cave art is located is called the Sala dels Gravats and was independently discovered by cavers in 2021.

Preliminary analysis of the panels revealed that the carvings were organized into five rows with little overlap between them and were stylistically similar, leading the archaeologists to suggest that this was a deliberate composition that may have been created at the same time, or at least at the same time. A period of time created in a short period of time. The motifs on the panels consist mainly of abstract symbols such as circles, zigzags, lines and netted patterns, as well as more representative images such as quadrupeds (possibly cows or horses) and astrology (suns and stars).

Italian underwater altar discovered

Maritime archaeologists have discovered two first-century AD marble altars off the coast of Pozzuoli, Italy. It is believed that these altars were once part of a temple complex built by the Nabataeans (traders from the Arabian Peninsula) at the Roman port of Puteoli.

While it is known that the Nabataeans established a base at Puteoli early in the empire, and some fragments of one of their temples (dedicated to the god Dusares) have been found since the 18th century, its exact location has not been known until researchers. Use the precise terrain to determine its probable location.

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