Researchers working in the ancient city of Pompeii, Italy, have found two frescoes (a type of wall painting) in a large dining hall. The art has laid undisturbed beneath ash and pumice (a kind of rock that comes from volcanoes) for nearly 2,000 years. Pompeii was a Roman city in ancient Italy, until an eruption by Mount Vesuvius, a nearby volcano, in AD 79 buried it. The thick layer of ash and rock protected many of Pompeii's treasures from damage and thieves. Teams of archaeologists, experts who study ancient objects to help us understand history, are gradually uncovering its mysteries.
The team put a special kind of glue into the back of the frescoes to keep them from falling off the wall. A roof is being put up over the room too, to protect it from the weather. The paintings show figures from Greek stories, including Helen of Troy, the daughter of the god Zeus, and Cassandra, who could predict the future. The Romans admired Greek culture.
Experts say the style of the art is unusual for the time. The frescoes are painted on a black wall, and experts think the colour was chosen to hide soot, a black powder produced by the oil-burning lamps used at the time. It also makes the frescoes stand out brightly. The floor of the dining room is a mosaic (马赛克) where patterns are created with small tiles (瓷砖). Researchers think the mosaic, which is white with a black border, contains a million tiles that would have reflected the sun up onto the paintings.
Archaeologists think they know who owned the building and paintings because they found the initials "ARV" carved into a wall. Dr Sophie Hay told the BBC, "We know who ARV is: he's Aulus Rustius Verus. He's a politician. He's super-rich."
Though there have been many incredible finds in the Pompeii area in recent years, uncovering Pompeii is tricky, expensive and time-consuming. A third of the city is still buried, but it will stay that way for now. The hope is that technology will improve and future archaeologists will find better ways of digging up the remaining ruins.
