A fresco discovered in Pompeii depicts a lavish meal with a pizza-like bread, which archaeologists say could be a precursor to the iconic Italian dish. However, the pasta, pictured next to a cup of wine and a pineapple-like piece of fruit, lacks classic pizza ingredients like tomato and mozzarella.
The 2,000-year-old fresco was discovered during excavations in the Region IX area of the Pompeii Archaeological Park near Naples, home of the famous pizza margherita. It is believed to have been invented in the nineteenth century. “The image is reminiscent of a pizza because we are near Naples,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, in an online video. “Obviously it’s not pizza, but maybe it was a distant ancestor of this food.”
Focaccia style bread
The image is believed to represent a focaccia-style bread topped with fruit such as a pomegranate and dates, and some kind of pesto. Zuchtriegel says the fresco “shows a flatbread with some toppings on it, spices and maybe some walnuts and a strawberry garland.”
Pompeii was engulfed in AD 79 by volcanic ash spewing from Mount Vesuvius. Excavations in Region IX began earlier this year when the skeletons of two men in their mid-50s were discovered in a cluster of houses known as Insula dei Casti Amanti. The food fresco was discovered in the atrium of a house next to a bakery, which was partially excavated between 1888 and 1891 and where excavation resumed in January, according to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture.