Introduction
In AD 79, the Roman metropolis of Pompeii and its hinterland had been buried beneath thick layers of ash and lapilli (small volcanic fragments) following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Beneath this volcanic cowl, different sorts of ashes had been additionally preserved, together with the burnt natural materials contained inside two terracotta vessels recovered from domestic contexts throughout twentieth-century excavations (Figures 1 & 2). These residues determine the vessels as incense burners or censers—fireproof containers used for burning aromatic resins and different aromata, usually as a part of spiritual rituals. Numerous incense burners have been recognized in Pompeii and different Roman cities, some present in domestic shrines and often bearing scorch marks on their interiors (e.g. D’Ambrosio & Boriello Reference D’Ambrosio and Boriello2001; Eber Reference Eberin press). Burnt natural residues, nevertheless, are not often preserved. In some instances, profitable analyses of samples, for instance from Nabataean incense burners (Huber et al. Reference Huber2018) and Judahite altars (Arie et al. Reference Arie2020), improve our understanding of historical cult practices and allow reconstruction of historical odours and smellscapes (Huber et al. Reference Huber2022), thus forming an important foundation for analysis within the rising subject of ‘sensory archaeology’ (cf. Skeates & Day Reference Skeates and Day2020).
Figure 1. Censer no. 1 (PAP inv. 10697) ({photograph} by J. Eber).
Figure 2. Censer no. 2 (PAP inv. 40196) ({photograph} by J. Eber).
The two Pompeian incense burners are due to this fact a useful useful resource for deepening our understanding of smoke choices within the Roman domestic cult. Through the applying of natural residue evaluation and the examination of phytoliths and calcitic (calcite-based) micro-remains, this text goals to determine the substances burnt in every vessel. The outcomes of those analyses contribute to reconstructions of Roman domestic sacrifices, which have to date been based totally on historical texts and photos (e.g. Fröhlich Reference Fröhlich1991; Elsner Reference Elsner, Faraone and Naiden2012; van Andringa Reference van Andringa2021: 79–98).
Classification, contexts and chronology of the censers
The two incense burners match properly into the typological spectrum of censers from Pompeii and past. Censer no. 1 is an incense cup, a goblet-like terracotta vessel composed of two elements: a conical foot and a shallow bowl (Figure 1) (D’Ambrosio & Boriello Reference D’Ambrosio and Boriello2001: 45, cat. 54). This type, encompassing minor morphological variations, is often discovered within the Vesuvian cities, Italy, Dacia and the north-western Roman provinces (Mihăilescu-Bîrliba Reference Mihăilescu-Bîrliba1996; D’Ambrosio & Boriello Reference D’Ambrosio and Boriello2001: 70–1, Gruppo G). Censer no. 1 was found in 1954 within the Officina di Sabbatino (II.8.4–5; this quantity format is restricted to the Pompeian handle system and identifies the situation of a home or unit, which doesn’t essentially have a contemporary identify), a constructing transformed from a residence into an inn across the mid-first century AD. At the time of the volcanic eruption, the conversion was most likely incomplete and the home uninhabited (Dentamaro Reference Dentamaro1997: 103–106). Smoke choices and domestic sacrifices at development websites weren’t unusual in Pompeii and are attested at a number of different areas, corresponding to IX.10.1 (Comegna & Corbino Reference Comegna and Corbino2023). The discover context, along with the stratigraphic courting of comparable examples, locations this censer within the Early Imperial interval (late first century BC to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79).
Censer no. 2 is a hemispherical bowl adorned with three anthropomorphic feminine appliqués—two busts flanking a reclining girl (Figure 2) (Fergola Reference Fergola1987: 165). Similar examples with hooked up feminine figures are attested at Pompeii and Campania, although they seem to symbolize an area kind (D’Ambrosio & Boriello Reference D’Ambrosio and Boriello2001: 46–60, Gruppo E). The reclining figures probably depict deceased people commemorated after their loss of life (Eber Reference Eberin press). The censer was present in 1986 in situ inside the absolutely furnished domestic shrine of a villa rustica in Boscoreale, a city close to Pompeii (proprietà Risi di Prisco), along with a marble statuette of a reclining girl, a silver plaque and a number of vessels (Figure 3) (Stefani Reference Stefani2002: 112–15). This context identifies censer no. 2 as a cult instrument used for burning choices throughout domestic rituals. Based on its type and the iconography of the appliqués, the vessel could be dated to the mid-first century BC to the mid-first century AD.
Figure 3. Censer no. 2 in situ within the domestic shrine at Boscoreale (Pompeii, Archivio Fotografico inv. H6803).
Smoke sacrifices within the Pompeian domestic cult
The archaeological contexts of each censers point out an affiliation with domestic cult practices—spiritual rituals carried out in residential and business buildings at family shrines (lararia) (Bassani Reference Bassani2008; van Andringa Reference van Andringa2009: 217–69). About 570 such shrines are identified from Pompeii (Boyce Reference Boyce1937; Orr Reference Orr1972; Giacobello Reference Giacobello2008). They usually embody painted or sculptural depictions of the deities worshipped there—the Lares (guardians of the home and land), the Genius of the pater familias (the protecting spirit of the male head of the family) and the Penates (protectors of the pantry) (Fröhlich Reference Fröhlich1991; Kaufmann-Heinimann Reference Kaufmann-Heinimann1998: 209–26). The shrine in Boscoreale, the place censer no. 2 was discovered, in addition to the lararium of the Casa del Larario del Sarno in Pompeii (I.14.7), exhibit that such domestic shrines held ritual devices for sacrificial choices, together with censers (Figure 4) (Maiuri Reference Maiuri1958: Tav. II; Eber Reference Eber2022; Eber Reference Eberin press). Domestic sacrifices are additionally properly documented in Latin literature: Roman authors usually point out incense provided to the Lares and Penates (e.g. Juvenal 12.87–89: Morton Braund Reference Morton Braund2004; Propertius, Elegies 3.10.19–22, 32: Goold Reference Goold1990); the scent of burning incense was thought of sacred and pleasing to the gods (Elegies 4.4.1). Other sources report extra choices corresponding to wine, fruit, truffles, grain, flowers and wreaths (e.g. Plautus, Aulularia 24–25: De Melo Reference De Melo2011; Ovid, Tristia 3.13.13–17: Wheeler Reference Wheeler1924). Visual depictions additionally mirror incense choices: in a portray within the lararium of the Casa dei Vettii (VI.15.1) a Genius flanked by two Lares holds a libation bowl and an open incense field (Figure 5).
Figure 4. Household shrine within the Casa del Larario del Sarno (I.14.7) with statuettes of Lares (PAP inv. 12125, 12126), a lamp (PAP inv. 12124) and a censer (PAP s.n.) (Pompeii, Archivio Fotografico inv. D964).
Figure 5. Lararium of the Casa dei Vettii (VI.15.1) with painted Lares (peak 660mm) and Genius (peak 630mm) ({photograph} by J. Eber).
Evidence of (frank)incense and sacrifices in Pompeii
Frankincense (the resin of the Boswellia tree, Latin: t(h)us) and different fragrant resins have to date not been archaeologically attested in Pompeii. Their presence is, nevertheless, documented epigraphically: a graffito from the Thermopolium di Fabius Memor e Celer (IX.7.24–25), most likely written after AD 62, lists a small amount of thus priced at one As, alongside staples corresponding to oil, cheese and dates (CIL IV (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum vol. 4) 5380; Solin & Caruso Reference Solin and Caruso2016). The funerary inscription of the Justice of the Peace M. Obellius Firmus, from his tomb outdoors Porta Nola, additionally data that 10kg of frankincense had been burnt at his burial (Cooley & Cooley Reference Cooley and Cooley2014: 195, F114).
Burnt stays of (domestic) sacrifices have been present in a number of Pompeian contexts. Early excavation experiences from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries point out residues on a number of altars and in incense burners, together with ash residues on a bronze tripod from the sacrarium (shrine) of the Praedia di Giulia Felice (II.4.2; MANN Inv. 27874; Winckelmann Reference Winckelmann1762: 48–49) and the stays of a chook skeleton and a laurel department in bronze tripods close to the backyard shrine of the Casa del Fauno (VI.12.2; Fiorelli Reference Fiorelli1862: 253). In the 20 th century, additional ash residues had been found on altars corresponding to the road altar at I.11 (Figure 6; Della Corte Reference Della Corte1913: 189). However, none of those samples had been scientifically analysed, and no materials has survived.
Figure 6. Pompeii, road altar on the façade of I.11, peak of the altar is 870mm (Pompeii, Archivio Fotografico inv. C756).
More just lately, ritual deposits of miniature censers, ashes and charcoal, containing burnt vegetation and animal bones, have been excavated in a number of homes and studied microscopically (Ciaraldi & Richardson Reference Ciaraldi, Richardson and Fincham2000: 79; Robinson Reference Robinson2002, Reference Robinson2003, Reference Robinson and Roberts2019; Ellis et al. Reference Ellis2023: 144–45). Identified supplies embody the stays of assorted vegetation, fruit stones, pine nuts, walnuts, figs and pomegranates. Similarly, residues from the lararium in IX.10.1 revealed figs, dates, olives, pine nuts, eggshells and fish vertebrae (Comegna & Corbino Reference Comegna and Corbino2023) and the contents of an incense cup from the lararium of the Casa di Fedra (IX.12.B) consisted of burnt wooden fragments—most likely gas—along with charred fig syconia and twigs with small leaves (Comegna Reference Comegna2024). While these observations are revealing, scientific analyses have the potential to determine additional choices.
Material and strategies
The residues preserved within the two censers haven’t beforehand been studied. Analysis of the ashes from censer no. 2 is talked about by G. Stefani (Reference Stefani2000: 438, be aware 76), however outcomes had been by no means printed, and no documentation exists concerning any post-excavation remedy. Based on the excavation {photograph} (Figure 3), some lapilli seem to have been eliminated from the inside of censer no. 2; related documentation shouldn’t be out there for censer no. 1. As neither censer was recovered throughout latest excavations, management samples of the encompassing soil and lapilli couldn’t be obtained.
Sampling was minimally invasive to protect the unique look of each objects. For every vessel, samples of burnt materials had been taken at two factors: close to the rim and within the centre (Figure 7). Samples of the pebble-like, charcoal-rich materials from censer no. 1 and the tremendous ashy residues from censer no. 2 had been collected not from the floor however from a barely deeper layer to keep away from contamination. Details of the samples are supplied in Table 1.
Figure 7. Locations from which the samples had been taken. Left: pattern nos. 1.1, 1.2; proper: pattern nos. 2.1, 2.2 (censers to not scale) (pictures by C. Comegna (PAP) & J. Eber).
Table 1. Measurements and distribution of the samples.
Ash calcitic micro-remains
The focus of calcitic ash micro-remains in every pattern was quantified to find out whether or not extra gas was used for incense burning and, in that case, what kind. Two micro-remains had been quantified: ash pseudomorphs of calcium oxalate crystals (CaOx; biominerals shaped in woody vegetation) and dung spherulites, which develop within the intestines of ruminants and point out the usage of dung as gas (Gur-Arieh & Shahack-Gross Reference Gur-Arieh, Shahack-Gross and Henry2020). Concentrations of dung spherulites and CaOx/ash pseudomorphs per 1g of sediment had been calculated following the tactic of Gur-Arieh and colleagues (Reference Gur-Arieh2013). Approximately 40mg of sediment had been sieved via a 150μm mesh. The residue was suspended in 500μL sodium polytungstate (2.4g/L density) and sonicated for 10 minutes to forestall aggregation. The suspension was vortexed, and instantly 50μL was mounted on a glass slide, coated with a 24 × 24mm cowl slide and analysed at ×400 magnification—first beneath plane-polarised mild for ash pseudomorphs and then beneath cross-polarised mild for dung spherulites. Micro-remains had been counted in about 30 fields of view, and their focus per gram of sediment was calculated following the components introduced by Gur-Arieh and colleagues (Reference Gur-Arieh2013: 4335). The components contains the next steps:
$${{{it{sum }}{;of;microremains;counted;} over {;Area;counted;( {no.;;of;fields;counted;instances;space;of;1;subject;of;view} )}} instances Area;of;the;slide = no.;of;microremains;on;the;slide;left( {50mu l} proper) = A}$$
$${{{10A = no.;of;microremains;in;all;the;answer;left( {500mu l} proper)} over {Initial;pattern;weight;( {mg} )}} instances 1000 = no.;of;microremains;in;1;gr;sediment}$$
Sample no. 1.1 consisted primarily of charred materials, stopping dependable identification of ash micro-remains; it was due to this fact reanalysed after heating at 500°C for 4 hours, leaving roughly 6mg of residue.
Phytoliths
Phytoliths are sturdy biogenic silica particles that type in vegetation and can survive decomposition or burning. They usually protect the form of the cells by which they developed, permitting identification of plant species and plant elements (Power et al. Reference Power2014). To remove massive charcoal fragments, pattern no. 1.1 was dry-ashed by heating it to 550°C for 3 hours in a muffle oven and leaving it to chill for half-hour. One millilitre of 6M hydrochloric acid (HCl) was then added to pattern no. 2.1 and the dry-ashed pattern no. 1.1 to decalcify combustion-generated calcites. The samples had been left till the response ceased (roughly two hours), then rinsed and centrifuged at 2000 × g for 10 minutes (Roth Mini-centrifuge) to take away the HCl, which was extracted from the samples by pipetting off the supernatant. This course of was repeated thrice.
A weighed portion of every processed pattern was mounted on glass slides with 18 × 18mm or 22 × 22mm coverslips, relying on pattern quantity. Approximately 20µL of 25% glycerine answer was added earlier than making use of the coverslip. The mounting was carried out in a laminar move hood, and the slides had been examined beneath brightfield and cross-polarised mild utilizing a Leica DM 5500 B microscope (N Plan 20×/0.40, HCX Plan 40×/0.65, HC PL Fluotar 63×/0.90, halogen mild supply). Phytoliths had been enumerated via single and multi-cell counts utilizing customary strategies, counting every by itself tally (Weiss et al. Reference Weiss2022). Single-cell tallies embody every single-cell phytolith as a part of every multi-cell. Morphotypes had been then counted utilizing a subject rely technique, which concerned counting a recorded slide space, column by column, till a set rely was reached. The variety of phytoliths on the slide was calculated utilizing the next algorithm (Power et al. Reference Power2014):
$$No.;phytoliths;per;slide = {{no.;phytoliths;counted} over {no.;fields;counted}} instances whole;no.;fields;on;the;slide$$
This worth was then used to derive a comparable unit of quantification for every phytolith kind per gram of dry sediment as follows:
$$small{No.;phytoliths;per;gram = {{no.;phytoliths;per;slide} over {tota;quantity;of;sediment;mounted;( {mg} )}} instances {{whole;phytolith;quantity;( {mg} )} over {whole;preliminary;sediment;(mg)}} instances 1000}$$
Organic residue evaluation
Samples 1.2 and 2.2 (from the centres of the censers) had been used for natural residue evaluation, a bioarchaeological method inspecting biomolecular parts derived from the metabolites of plant and animal sources. Lipids are typically essentially the most studied compounds, however different merchandise, together with plant secondary metabolites corresponding to resins or perfume oils, are additionally thought of. Following established protocols (Mottram et al. Reference Mottram1999; Garnier & Valamoti Reference Garnier and Valamoti2016), lipid/resin extraction was carried out utilizing natural solvents (DCM:MeOH 2:1), adopted by acid extraction and butylation to focus on fruit diacids, that are insoluble in natural solvents. The samples had been then trimethylsilylated and analysed by gasoline chromatography and gasoline chromatography mass spectrometry (GC and GC-MS), following established parameters (Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2019a).
Results
Analysis of ash calcitic micro-remains signifies that neither pattern comprises dung spherulites and each have a excessive focus of principally rhombs-shaped ash pseudomorphs within the vary of three–3.6 million per gram of sediment. These outcomes point out the burning of woody vegetation, primarily eudicotyledons (or eudicots: flowering vegetation with two seed leaves (cotyledons) on the time of germination) based mostly on the dominance of rhombs-shaped pseudomorphs (cf. Table S1; Durand et al. Reference Durand and Stoops2010; Prychid & Rudall Reference Prychid and Rudall1999).
Phytoliths are current in each censers, displaying concentrations of 4 866 660 (no. 1.1) and 384 578 (no. 2.1) per gram (cf. Table S2). Both samples are characterised by greater percentages (60–93%) of phytoliths derived from monocots and decrease percentages of phytoliths derived from eudicots (6.3–40%; Figure 8). Grass short-cells are dominated by grasses of the subfamily Pooideae (pattern no. 1.1: Pooideae = 414 493, Chloridoideae = 79 710, Panicoideae = 47 826; pattern no. 2.1: Pooideae = 14 438, Chloridoideae = 1313, Panicoideae = 1313). Pooideae grasses sometimes develop in areas with seasonal climates, whereas Chloridoideae are related to arid climates and Panicoideae are typical of tropical rising situations. Morphotypes from eudicots are current in each samples (1.1 = 621 739; 2.1 = 13 126), with the presence of the facetate tracheids, hairbases, polyhedron and angular morphotypes indicating leafy eudicots (Hermans et al. Reference Hermans2025).
Figure 8. Attribution of phytoliths (prime); whole numbers of floral versus leaf/stem from the entire monocots phytolith counts that may be assigned to plant elements on left axis, with floral-stem/leaf ratio on proper axis (decrease) (determine by R. Power).
Phytoliths point out the presence of a wide range of plant sorts and elements, together with grass stems and husks. Most of the phytoliths derive from C3 grasses however there may be additionally some proof for C4 grasses (Panicoideae and Chloridoideae) and thick-leaved shrubs in each censers.
Molecular evaluation of the natural residues reveals no biomarkers in pattern no. 1.2. This means that lipids/resins should not preserved in censer no. 1. However, molecular evaluation of pattern no. 2.2 through GC-MS recognized triterpenic markers that may be related to a Burseraceae resin, most likely from Canarium (a genus of tropical and subtropical timber), in addition to markers of fatty substances and aldaric acids suggesting the presence of a grape product. The affiliation of α- and β-amyrins, lupeol and their derivatives additionally strongly suggests the presence of a Burseraceae resin, particularly a Canarium resin often known as elemi (e.g. Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2023). In addition to α-amyrin acetate and lupeol acetate, the presence of epi-amyrins (α and β) and epi-lupenol confirms the presence of Burseraceae resin, as these compounds are recognized in each frankincense and elemi (Mathé et al. Reference Mathe2004; Regert et al. Reference Regert2008; Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2023). However, boswellic acids/acetates, that are attribute markers of frankincense, weren’t detected in pattern no. 2.2, nor had been their degradation merchandise (24-noroleana-3,12-diene and 24-norursa-3,12-diene) (Evershed et al. Reference Evershed1997).
Although the presence of among the recognized compounds could also be associated to pure decay processes, the detection of pentacyclic triterpene hydrocarbons, primarily derived from the dehydration of resin biomarkers (e.g. lupa-2,20(29)-diene; urs-2,12-diene), suggests publicity to warmth remedy (Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2019b). The presence of acetate derivatives of olean-18-en-3-ol, α-amyrin and lupeol may be thought of as a secondary indicator of resin warmth remedy (Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2023), though α-amyrin acetate has additionally been recognized as a biomarker of Canarium strictum resin, the Indian elemi (Hinge et al. Reference Hinge1965).
The presence of a mixture of succinic, fumaric, malic and tartaric acids in vital portions inside the residues contained in censer no. 2 (pattern no. 2.2) (>5µg/g of residue) suggests the presence of a fruit-derived product, most definitely of grape origin (e.g. Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2019a; Drieu et al. Reference Drieu2020). A malic-to-tartaric acid ratio of 0.7 might correspond to the chemical signature of a ripe grape product, corresponding to wine or vinegar (Drieu et al. Reference Drieu2021). However, warning is required in figuring out these biomarkers, notably when they don’t seem to be retrieved from the clay matrix of the vessel (Garnier Reference Garnier and Bernal-Casasola2021) and post-depositional contamination can’t be excluded. Indeed, no sediment management samples from the context had been preserved, stopping the ultimate affirmation that these biomarkers are related to the unique content material of the incense burner. Likewise, the presence of fatty substance markers on this floor residue (i.e. not absorbed into the clay matrix of the vessel), corresponding to monoacylglycerols and even diacylglycerols, doesn’t rule out later contamination from organic soil exercise (together with from trendy human contact), particularly when they’re related to a low amount of free fatty acids (Figure 9 & S1).
Figure 9. Partial gasoline chromatograms of natural residues extract from censer no. 2. The prime proper window corresponds to the Ion Extract Chromatogram (m/z 189) displaying the triterpenes constituents of the Burseraceae resin. MAG: monoacylglycerols; DAG: diacylglycerols; M: Myristin; P: Palmitin; S: Stearin; I.S.: inner customary (determine by M. Rageot).
Discussion
The focus of ash pseudomorphs in each analysed samples signifies that woody vegetation had been burnt in each censers. This might mirror the usage of charcoal or an identical gas however might additionally derive from the provided plant or incense itself. Identified phytoliths counsel that the plant teams represented most definitely embody oaks (Quercus), laurel (Lauraceae) and mulberry or different stone-fruit vegetation (Moraceae or Prunus sp.). This identification is indicative somewhat than definitive attributable to seize biases and taphonomic filtering in phytolith assemblages (Power et al. Reference Power2021). Both censers thus include traces of burnt vegetation, per among the votive deposits described in classical texts and beforehand printed microscopic analyses. The similarity of those residues to these just lately analysed from the lararium in home IX.10.1 (Comegna & Corbino Reference Comegna and Corbino2023) and the incense cup from the Casa di Fedra (IX.12.B) (Comegna Reference Comegna2024) means that plant choices had been a standard apply within the Pompeian domestic cult. While some vegetation, such because the C4 grasses, might have been imported, the simultaneous presence of comparable vegetation in non-cult-related contexts at Pompeii (Ciarallo Reference Ciarallo2004: 212–50; cf. Jashemski et al. Reference Jashemski2002) means that a lot of the vegetation used as choices had been domestically grown. Roman authors report that a few of these vegetation had been sacred to particular gods: oak was sacred to Jupiter (Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis 16.11: Rackham Reference Rackham1945), whereas laurel was burnt in honour of Apollo (Elegies 2.28a, 36). Written sources are, nevertheless, not all the time express about plant sacrifices in domestic contexts and the wreaths (coronae) talked about in a number of texts can’t be additional specified (e.g. Aulularia 385–87; Tristia 3.13.13–18).
The burnt Burseraceae resin residues in censer no. 2 symbolize the primary archaeological proof of an imported resin in Pompeii. While the potential of a Boswellia resin, derived from timber endemic to the southern Arabian Peninsula or East Africa, can’t be fully excluded, the traces most definitely derive from Canarium (elemi), which can have originated in sub-Saharan Africa or Asian rainforests, notably India (Rageot et al. Reference Rageot2023: fig. 5). In conjunction with finds such because the Indian statuette of Lakshmi from the Casa della Statuetta Indiana (I.8.5; MANN Inv. 149425; Ferrari Reference Ferrari2016), this resin underscores Pompeii’s integration right into a commerce community extending far past the borders of the Roman Empire. Odoriferous resins from Arabia and the African and Asian rainforests had been traded alongside commodities from India and sub-Saharan Africa, transferring northward throughout the Red Sea from at the very least the primary century BC (Historia Naturalis 12.64; cf. Groom Reference Groom1981; Young Reference Young2001; Mattingly et al. Reference Mattingly2017; De Romanis Reference De Romanis2020). These items had been finally shipped through Alexandria to Italy via Portus and Puteoli, the place incense merchants are additionally attested epigraphically (Faider-Feytmans Reference Faider-Feytmans1952: 151, cat. R.71).
Beyond these financial insights, the outcomes introduced right here present a uncommon archaeological perspective on ritual practices, beforehand attested solely in written and visible sources. Alongside the burnt Burseraceae resins, natural residue evaluation detected traces of fats and grape biomarkers in censer no. 2. While warning in interpretation have to be maintained, this will likely counsel that wine was poured into the vessel. The mixed providing of wine and (frank)incense (ture ac vino) was among the many mostly enacted preliminary sacrificial acts in Imperial Rome. Known because the praefatio, this ritual is incessantly depicted in sacrificial scenes displaying a togatus (a person carrying a toga) with an open incense field pouring a libation onto an altar. Relief work and painted lararia in Pompeii point out that this ritual additionally happened within the metropolis (Figure 4; e.g. CIL VI 2065 I 19; Cato, De agri cultura 134, 1–2, Hooper Reference Hooper1934; cf. Scheid Reference Scheid2003: 79–83; Elsner Reference Elsner, Faraone and Naiden2012). As famous above, the iconography of the appliqué busts on censer no. 2 hyperlinks the vessel to domestic commemoration of the useless. The providing of incense and wine additionally performed a central position within the Early Imperial funerary cult, as evidenced by literary descriptions by Statius and Martial and by the restoration of incense burners from Pompeian funerary contexts and the inclusion of libation tubes used for wine and fragrance as choices in graves (e.g. Statius, Silvae 2.1.158–62; 2.6.85–90, Shackleton Bailey Reference Shackleton Bailey2015; Galeandro et al. Reference Galeandro and Osanna2021: 249; Van Andringa Reference van Andringa2021: 115–28).
Conclusion
By utilizing a mixture of various analytical strategies, we will acquire a broader understanding of the totally different substances that had been burnt inside Pompeian censers. Although the sparsely documented post-excavation histories of each artefacts analysed right here necessitates warning in decoding the outcomes, the preserved ash pseudomorphs and phytoliths help the identification of (presumably) domestically grown vegetation. This gives a further perspective on domestic rituals, as written sources usually emphasise the usage of imported (frank)incense. The presence of resin remnants of this sort, recognized via natural residue evaluation, are reported archaeologically for the primary time from Pompeii. These findings not solely reinforce understandings of Pompeii’s broad commerce connections however, along with the traces of grape biomarkers, provide an archaeological complement to written and visible sources regarding Early Imperial sacrificial practices.
Acknowledgements
We thank the previous and present administrators of the Parco Archeologico di Pompei (PAP), Massimo Osanna and Gabriel Zuchtriegel, for authorising the analyses and the publication of this research. Many thanks go additionally to Anna Maria Sodo, Valeria Amoretti and Chiara Comegna (PAP) for additional authorisation and sensible assist, in addition to to Ruth Bielfeldt (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München). All pictures are courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura, Parco Archeologico di Pompei; replica by any means is prohibited.
Funding assertion
This research was co-funded by the European Research Council (ERC) beneath the European Union’s Horizon 2020 analysis innovation programme (ERC-2015-StG 678901-Food-Transforms) as a part of Philipp Wolfgang Stockhammer’s ERC Starting Grant venture ‘FoodTransforms: Transformations of food in the Eastern Mediterranean Late Bronze Age’. Johannes Eber’s analysis was funded as a part of ‘Distant Worlds. Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies’ (GSC 1039). Robert C. Power is funded by Research Ireland 32/PATH-A/9284.
Author contributions: utilizing CRediT classes
Johannes Eber: Conceptualization-Lead, Data curation-Equal, Formal analysis-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Methodology-Equal, Project administration-Lead, Supervision-Lead, Visualization-Equal, Writing – authentic draft-Lead, Writing – overview & editing-Lead. Shira Gur-Arieh: Data curation-Equal, Formal analysis-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Methodology-Equal, Writing – authentic draft-Equal, Writing – overview & editing-Equal. Robert C. Power: Data curation-Equal, Formal analysis-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Methodology-Equal, Visualization-Equal, Writing – authentic draft-Equal, Writing – overview & editing-Equal. Maxime Rageot: Data curation-Equal, Formal analysis-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Methodology-Equal, Visualization-Equal, Writing – authentic draft-Equal, Writing – overview & editing-Equal. Philipp Wolfgang Stockhammer: Conceptualization-Supporting, Funding acquisition-Lead, Project administration-Equal, Writing – authentic draft-Supporting, Writing – overview & editing-Supporting.
