Locked up slaves, blindfolded donkeys in a confined space: archaeologists have unearthed a “prison bakery” in the ancient city of Pompeii, the archaeological site announced in a press release published Friday, December 8. These excavations carried out in a house revealed “a narrow room with no outside view, equipped with small windows with iron bars to let the light through”.
Archaeologists concluded that there was a “prison bakery, where slaves and donkeys were locked up and exploited to grind the grain needed to produce bread.” The research also revealed the presence of “engravings on the ground to coordinate the movement of the animals, forced to turn for hours while blindfolded.”
The house was “divided – as is often the case – into a residential area decorated with refined frescoes and a production area intended for bread making,” the statement added.
“Brutal violence”
In one of the rooms of the bakery, three skeletons had already been found in recent months, confirming that the site was inhabited.
“We have to imagine the presence of people with servile status whose owner felt the need to restrict their freedom of movement,” underlined the director of the Pompeii site, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, in a scientific article published by the archaeological site.
“This is the most shocking aspect of ancient slavery, the one devoid of both relationships of trust and promises of freedom,” adds Mr. Zuchtriegel, evoking an impression of “brutal violence,” “confirmed by securing windows with iron bars.”
The volcanic ash spewed in the year 79 by the erupting Vesuvius sedimented on most of the homes of Pompeii, which allowed them to be almost completely preserved, as were many bodies among the thousands of victims of the catastrophe.
