I just read about a Roman shipwreck found with jars of fish sauce still inside

I was looking up ancient food history for a project and found an article about a Roman shipwreck off the coast of Italy. The wreck is from around 2,000 years ago. They found these huge clay jars called amphorae, and some still had their original contents sealed inside. It was garum, a fermented fish sauce the Romans put on everything. I always pictured shipwrecks having treasure or statues, not condiments! It made me realize how much we can learn about daily life from stuff that seems ordinary. The fact that a ship was carrying tons of fish sauce tells you how popular it was. Has anyone else come across a find that changed how you think about an ancient culture's normal habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannaho522d ago

Remember reading about a dig that found a huge pile of oyster shells near old London. It showed me people back then just ate a ton of oysters like we eat chips, which is kind of wild. Makes you realize their normal snacks are our fancy restaurant food now.

fiona_sullivan292d ago

Honestly that line about their normal snacks being our fancy food really hits. Tbh it makes me wonder what stuff we eat daily will be a luxury in a hundred years. Like maybe cheap chicken nuggets will be some rare treat. Kinda puts our whole idea of fancy into perspective.