Pompeii’s ancient art of textile dyeing is revived to show another side of life before eruption
A detail of a fresco showing a sea battle framed in Pompeii red topped by a basket and a mask that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Busy winged cupids dyeing textiles are painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in Pompeii, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants, in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini walks in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire frescoes and friezes that decorate the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli holds up a finished scarf reproducing an ancient Roman fresco of intertwining Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, made using dyes derived from plants grown in his yard, in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini stands next to Rosa Canina, Dog Rose, plants as he walks through Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A gardener works in Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli shows rubia tinctorum, rose madder, roots he grows in his garden, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
A visitor holds an iris flower as she admires busy winged cupids dyeing textiles painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Visitors walk down an ancient Roman street in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the ancient Roman Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A detail of a fresco showing Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Archaeologist Sophie Hay stands by the remains of the large vats of a “fullonica” or washing and dyeing workshops, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A detail of a fresco showing a sea battle framed in Pompeii red topped by a basket and a mask that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A detail of a fresco showing a sea battle framed in Pompeii red topped by a basket and a mask that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Busy winged cupids dyeing textiles are painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in Pompeii, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Busy winged cupids dyeing textiles are painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in Pompeii, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants, in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants, in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini walks in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini walks in the House of the Dioscuri, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire frescoes and friezes that decorate the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors admire frescoes and friezes that decorate the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli holds up a finished scarf reproducing an ancient Roman fresco of intertwining Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, made using dyes derived from plants grown in his yard, in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli holds up a finished scarf reproducing an ancient Roman fresco of intertwining Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, made using dyes derived from plants grown in his yard, in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini stands next to Rosa Canina, Dog Rose, plants as he walks through Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Master garden historian Maurizio Bartolini stands next to Rosa Canina, Dog Rose, plants as he walks through Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A gardener works in Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A gardener works in Pompeii’s restored plant nursery, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli shows rubia tinctorum, rose madder, roots he grows in his garden, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli shows rubia tinctorum, rose madder, roots he grows in his garden, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Paolo Lucariello)
A visitor holds an iris flower as she admires busy winged cupids dyeing textiles painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A visitor holds an iris flower as she admires busy winged cupids dyeing textiles painted on a frieze at waist level that runs around the living room in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti., in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Designer and traditional dyer Claudio Cutuli prepares a rubia tinctorum, rose madder, to make a Pompeii red to dye his own line of clothing, in his laboratory in the village of Bevagna, in the central Italian region of Umbria, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colourful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Trisha Thomas)
Visitors walk down an ancient Roman street in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Visitors walk down an ancient Roman street in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the ancient Roman Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the ancient Roman Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A detail of a fresco showing Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A detail of a fresco showing Perseus and Andromeda surrounded in a Pompeii red, that decorates the living room of house of the Vetti, in one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii, the House of the Vetti, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Archaeologist Sophie Hay stands by the remains of the large vats of a “fullonica” or washing and dyeing workshops, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Archaeologist Sophie Hay stands by the remains of the large vats of a “fullonica” or washing and dyeing workshops, in the Pompeii archeological site, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. A new project in Pompeii is combining traditional dyeing techniques with colorful frescoes, a historic reconstruction of a garden with Roman-era plants and the study of a steamy workshop where slaves dyed cloth, to revive the daily life in the ancient city before the eruption. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
POMPEII, Italy (AP) — A new project inside the Pompeii archaeological site is reviving ancient textile dyeing techniques to show another side of daily life before the city was destroyed by a volcano in 79 A.D.
The inspiration comes from frescoes unearthed inside the archaeological site that show winged cupids dying cloth, gathering grapes for wine and making perfumes.
“It is very close to the actual reality,” the archaeological site’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said of the images.
For the project, Zuchtriegel tapped a master dyer based in Umbria, Claudio Cutuli, who uses dyes he makes from plants in his own clothing line.
Cutuli uses the root of “rubia tinctorum,” or rose madder, for the famous Pompeiian red. He uses walnut husks for brown, elderberries for black and grey and cardamom for the amber, yellow and shades of green.
With the Pompeiian color palette, Cutuli is dying scarves with motifs taken from the House of Vetti frescoes, which include the cupids. The rich home, like the rest of Pompeii, was buried under ash.
Half of the profits from the scarves’ sale will help fund further restoration efforts at the once-sprawling city, where gardeners recently recreated a nursery that includes plants that were used for dying before Pompeii’s destruction.
Garden historian Maurizio Bartolini said roots, bark and flowers were often used in dyeing. Rosehip, for example, made a soft pink “that was one of the most used colors,’’ he said.
Frescoes in the archaeological site show wealthy Pompeiians dressed brightly in purple, green, pinks, blues and yellows. The hues were achieved by boiling the dyed textiles in metal-lined vats at workshops run by slaves who, by contrast, wore plain, brown tunics.
“It’s quite unpleasant conditions for the slaves who worked here,” said archaeologist Sophie Hay. “You have got the furnaces going, and it would be hot, crowded and noisy because people would be shouting when they come in to see if their stuff is ready yet.”
For Zuchtriegel, textile dyeing is another way to bring Pompeii back to life for modern visitors.
“It is part of a scientific and cultural project to create awareness that history is not only the big monuments and beautiful paintings,” he said. “There’s also another history, of the economy, the daily life, the lives of the majority which often are not represented in the great narratives.”