Unique 2,000-year-old perfume bottle uncovered from Pompeii wardrobe

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique 2,000-year-old perfume bottle from a wardrobe found in the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii, which was abandoned after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

The wardrobe was found at Regio IX, Insula 11 of Pompeii, an archaeological site measuring about 44m long and excavated mainly between 1911 and 1912.

It was found to contain other artefacts as well, including cosmetics, lead weights, 38 bronze coins and a necklace of children’s amulets, researchers reveal in E-Journal degli Scavi di Pompei.

So far, excavations at Pompeii over centuries have unravelled nearly two-thirds of the ancient city, revealing insights about the lives of ancient Romans during the time.

The latest find could throw more light on the daily practices and material culture of the city before the Vesuvian eruption of 79 AD.

Researchers found the furniture at the back of a house, seemingly attributed to a man called Cornelius Maximus.

But the exact inscriptions could no longer be seen, they say.

The house was overlooking Via dell’Abbondanza, one of the main road axes of the ancient city.

One of the rooms of the house, identified as a dining room, had a lime floor with fragments of white stone from the 2nd century BC.

The house seemed to have been under renovation when the volcano erupted.

This could be inferred from observations that the ceiling had no decoration, only bare plaster, and a window had also been cut after the fact.

Researchers rebuilt the wardrobe from the ruins, relying on its imprints.

The cabinet’s shelves had collapsed when the room’s ceiling gave way, and half of it was buried, while the remaining part survived.

Artefacts found at the site included fragments of everyday pottery, cooking pots, a cup decorated with pine cone-like scales, and the base of a glass dish.

There was also a tiny charm shaped like a shoe with wings, which was likely part of a necklace given to children.

Other tiny fragments of ceramic, glass, bone and crystal found at the site may have also been part of the charm necklace, researchers say.

Several objects were found in the wardrobe, including a glass perfume bottle and a small slate slab used for grinding pigments in Roman times.

“The repertoire includes tweezers and a pigment smemper (coticula), a glass balsamarium, a perfume burner and a bronze lantern,” the Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement.

Together, these products seemed equivalent to a makeup palette of the era.

There were also small lead weights, placed in a small wooden box, of which very few traces remained.

The lead weights seem compatible with the conduct of commercial activities, but their specific function remains a mystery, researchers say.