BURIED POMPII

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 315, 31 August 1932, Page 3

BURIED POMPII

SKELETON FOUND WITH BAG OF MONEY IN ARMS MANY PERFECT COINS Rome, August 2 A new veili of archaelogical discovery bas been opened at Poxnpeii (says the Rome correspondent of the 'Morning Post'), in the "House of Menandro," and a gruesome index to hoped-for treasure has been found — the skeleton of a slave clasping against its bare ribs with bony hands a ^ leather "strong room" bag filled with coins of gold 'silver and bronze. In an underground chamber of this same house there was found last year a table service of fine silverware richly decorated and hopes ran high that other important items would cjuickly be brought to light. Negative results led to exploratory search in a new direction and- in an unsuspected underground passage of the buried mansion this new indication has now been found. The skeleton has been indentified as a household slave hy fragments of dress ornaments. The last relic of the bag perished on exposure to air leaving intact only its ring lock. The bag contained over 100 pieces, ineluding perfeetly preserved specimens of gold coins of the reign of Vespasian and Nero, many silver pieces, and some bronze specimens. Other Unique Finds In the same passage the excavators found another skeleton — that of a youth surrounded by a strange mixture of goods, which included a complete set of gardener's tools and a beautifully-worked bronze vase with a woman's figure in bas relief. •Other bronze pieces were of a more simple character. Several serving dishes, a box of nails, and a large treasure chest were found. A few odd precious stoneg mystei'iously scattered about on the lid of the chest have been salved from the cinders. Whether these men were trapped while trying to save their own belongings, or whether they were robing their master's house under cover of the general disorder is a 2,000-year-old secret which will never be fatliomed; but their presence with with treasure in that underground passage encourages the theory that more important discoveries are ahead and work is proceeding.