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Archaeologists excavating the Porta Sarno necropolis in Pompeii, Italy, discovered life-sized statues of a man and woman as part of a funerary relief.
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Experts believe the couple depicted were of high status, and the there are symbols included on the woman’s statue that lead researchers to believe that she was a priestess of Ceres.
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The public will be able to watch live-time restoration on the statues starting in mid April.
In 79 A.D., the sky above the city of Pompeii, Italy, turned gray. But it wasn’t snow that began falling—it was ash. Mount Vesuvius was erupting. For 12 hours, the volcano rained ash and pumice on the city, and soon the eruptions would worsen. Mount Vesuvius began spewing hot gas and lava fragments (part of multiple pyroclastic surges), killing many of the 20,000 citizens living in Pompeii and nearby Heracleum. Today, both the tragedy and the region more broadly are still a major area of study.
Archaeologists recently excavated the Porta Sarno necropolis in Pompeii and discovered a funerary relief featuring statues of a life-sized man and woman. The statues, likely a husband and wife, are part of a larger monumental tomb, consisting of a large wall with several niches. The statues’ archaic features and carving quality suggest they were likely made during the late Republic Period—a time of immense social inequality, with elites making their power known through funerary monuments.
The presence of the funerary relief and other details on the statues lead researchers to believe that the husband and wife were influential in high society. For instance, the man is depicted wearing a toga that reaches his mid shin. Researchers suggest this was to show off his “calcei patricii,” a type of footwear worn by upper class Romans. The ring on his left hand and intricacy of his eyes and curls were also indicators of high status. Findings from the archaeological dig were published in the E-Journal of the Excavations of Pompeii.
Interestingly, some of the woman’s accessories suggest she may have been a priestess of Ceres, goddess of fertility, motherly relationships, and agriculture. She is depicted wearing a necklace with a crescent moon in the middle called a lunula. These amulets were typically worn by girls before marriage, but the presence of a lunula on a married woman suggests that she is a priestess, as Ceres was often symbolically connected to the moon. The statue of the woman also showed her holding a laurel asperigillum—a ceremonial tool used to bless spaces.
The excavation effort is a joint effort between the University of Valencia and the Pompeii Archaeological Park, one that began in July 2024 and is part of the larger research project Investigating the Archaeology of Death in Pompeii.
This is not the first time the Porta Sarno necropolis has been explored, however. The area was also excavated in the 90s for construction of the Circumvesuviana, a railway network in Italy. According to a press release, the 1998 excavations revealed more than 50 cremation monuments marked by stelae and funerary arches, functioning similarly to modern-day headstones.
The statues have since been moved to Palestra Grande at the excavation site for restoration. In the future, the statues will be displayed as a part of the larger Being a Woman in Ancient Pompeii exhibition, set to open on April 16. The public will be able to view live-time restoration of the statues as a part of the exhibit.
“This campaign is a precious opportunity to expand research and enhancement activities in the area outside the walls of Pompeii” Gabriel Zuchtriegel—Director of the Park—said in the translated press release.
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