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Comment by poulsbohemian | Hacker News Reader

Other than intact paint, I’m not sure why this is getting so much attention. We saw similar identifiable stands like this when we visited 20 years ago. Cool yes, but doesn’t appear to add anything new to the archeology.

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This is adding much to the archeology. Those food stands you saw were excavated many years ago with less modern methods. This is the first food stand to be excavated in quite some time and has yeilded new discoveries from the application of new methods. I wouldn't expect the new discoveries to be well explained in a short reuters article. I get the idea they were able to make some new analysis of the food and ingredients in the containers. You probably need to be versed in the field and reading archeological journals to really understand the contributions.

I've never been to Pompeii, and this is novel to me (and super cool to see the entire thermopolium, and such fine paintings so well preserved). According to TFA, this is of interest to archaeology because

  “It’s the first time we are excavating an entire termopolium”

You simply stated it better than the Reuters article. Those paintings and the rests of food in the jars make it really exceptional. There were already many food stands you could see in Pompei (or Ercolano) nearby.

It may not be anything that was previously unknown but it is interesting to see a direct example of how people of that time decorated their social spaces almost indistinguishably from how we do today.

Came here to say the same thing: these fast food places are everywhere in the Pompeii/Herculaneum area. This one is special because the art is very well preserved.

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