The Aromas of Pompeii: Incense Burners on Ancient Altars Reveal the Secrets of a Lost World

Censer no. 2 successful situ successful the home shrine astatine Boscoreale. Credit: Johannes Eber / CC BY 4.0

Pompeii’s household rituals carried scents from acold beyond the Roman world. A caller survey of residues wrong 2 past incense burners from household altars suggests that radical successful and astir Pompeii burned section plants on with imported aromatic resin, offering uncommon grounds that regular worship successful the metropolis was tied to long-distance trade.

The study, published successful Antiquity, was led by Johannes Eber of the Department of Archaeology astatine the University of Zurich successful Switzerland.

Researchers examined burnt remains preserved wrong 2 terracotta incense burners, 1 from Pompeii and the different from a adjacent villa astatine Boscoreale. Both vessels came from home settings linked to household worship.

Pompeii incense burners sphere the aromas of ritual and trade

The findings assistance reply a basal question that has agelong remained open: what, exactly, radical burned successful these objects.

Using microscopy and chemic analysis, researchers recovered signs that woody plants were burned successful some incense burners. Those remains whitethorn bespeak fuel, offerings, oregon both. The survey besides identified traces linked to chromatic effect plants oregon laurel, and perchance grape products specified arsenic vino oregon grapes successful 1 of the vessels.

Censer no. 1 (left) and Censer no. 2 (right). Credit: Johannes Eber / CC BY 4.0

The strongest effect came from the Boscoreale burner. There, researchers detected markers of a resin from the Burseraceae family, a radical of aromatic trees not autochthonal to the Pompeii area.

The resin apt came from Canarium, sometimes called “elemi,” though the survey said a Boswellia resin specified arsenic frankincense cannot beryllium ruled retired completely. That matters due to the fact that it offers the archetypal archaeological grounds of imported incense being burned successful the Pompeian home cult.

Imported resin gives Pompeii’s location worship a wider world

Written sources person agelong described incense offerings successful Roman ritual, but carnal impervious from Pompeii had been missing.

The survey besides points to a premix of section and imported materials successful household religion. Most of the works remains look to travel from taxon that could person been grown locally. But the resin apt traveled from Asia oregon sub-Saharan Africa done commercialized routes that connected the Roman satellite to distant regions.

That gives the tiny vessels a wider meaning. They were not lone ritual tools. They besides bespeak however planetary commercialized reached into backstage homes and household shrines.

Two vessels amusement however ritual and commercialized met astatine home

One burner was recovered successful a gathering successful Pompeii that had been turned from a location into an inn. The different was discovered successful spot wrong a afloat furnished household shrine astatine a villa successful Boscoreale. That 2nd find makes its ritual usage particularly clear.

Researchers were cautious not to overstate the results. Because the vessels were excavated decades ago, power samples from the surrounding ungraded were not available. That means immoderate traces, particularly those linked to grape products and fats, cannot beryllium confirmed with afloat certainty.

Even so, the survey offers 1 of the clearest looks yet astatine what radical whitethorn person burned during home rites earlier Mount Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii successful AD 79. In these quiescent acts of worship, researchers recovered grounds of some section contented and far-reaching exchange.