From an excavation site in a domus bordering the house of Leda and the swan in Pompeii, 13 terracotta figurines emerged, traces of an ancient rite. The small sculptures of about 15 cm in height – as reported in the E-journal of the Pompeii excavations http://pompeiisites.org/e-journal-degli-scavi-di-pompei/ – among which human figures can be recognised, but a walnut, an almond, the head of a clay rooster and a glass pine cone were also found in an upright position on a horizontal surface inside a room where a shelf was probably located. The sculptures emerged from the lapillus at a height of more than 2 meters above the floor level. The environment that preserved them, probably the atrium of the house, also had some decorations that have so far emerged in the upper part of the walls.
Pompeii, 13 statuettes emerge from the excavations: perhaps traces of an ancient rite
From the first studies, some subjects seem to refer to the myth of Cybele and Attis, connected to the life cycle of the seasons and the fertility of the earth and therefore to the spring equinox. The ongoing construction site is affecting already known environments of the House of Leda (brought to light between 2018 and 2019 as part of the works foreseen by the Great Pompeii Project) and those of two domus, not better identified, which develop to the north and south of Leda’s house. During the removal phase of the earth still present in some rooms of Leda’s house, in order to reach the level of the floor level, a finely frescoed room emerged where 4 roundels with female faces of refined elegance stand out. The excavation is aimed at making the excavation fronts unsafe (perimeter between structures already excavated and unexcavated areas) and at safeguarding and conserving the decorative devices, also with a view to the public use of the complex.