Sealed Closet in Pompeii Home Yields Cosmetics, Coins and a Childhood Amulet Necklace

Archaeologists working in Pompeii have opened a sealed closet inside a home and found a collection of belongings that point to everyday life in the Roman city before it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

The Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a news release that the house stands in the central part of the city. It was first excavated in 1912, but work on the surrounding areas has only now begun.

Inside the closet, researchers found cosmetics, an incense burner, a bronze lantern and a balsam jar. A wooden chest of drawers held weights that were probably used in commerce. The team also recovered vases and pots made of bronze, glass and ceramic, along with a "refined snuff bottle" decorated with pine.

One of the most notable finds was a necklace representing several deities and made from a range of materials. The park said it may have been seen as "magical" in Roman times. Such pieces are known as "crepundia," or rattles, and carry amulets intended to protect a child wearing them. Many people kept them into adulthood as keepsakes from childhood. This necklace contains at least 20 miniature objects, including items made of bone and crystal.

The park noted that the Roman world saw high levels of "geographical mobility." People from slaves to wealthy merchants often lived far from their relatives and the places where they grew up.

The wardrobe also contained 38 bronze coins, kept in a container made of plant material. Their presence has led researchers to believe the owner or owners did not have time to retrieve valuable items. The park said it is impossible to know what became of them. They may have survived the eruption but been unable to return and dig out their belongings, or they may have died in the disaster or afterward, leaving no heirs to claim the objects.

Little is known about the residents. The contents of the closet, the paintings, and the home's position on one of Pompeii's main streets suggest "a certain standard of living." Mouse skeletons found inside the house complicate that picture, though the park said similar remains have turned up elsewhere in the city, showing Pompeii dealt with "unwelcome guests."

The house has previously been linked to a person named Cornelius Maximus, based on inscriptions that are no longer visible. The new discoveries are unlikely to settle who owned it, but park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said they let archaeologists study "the various traces of a life." In a Facebook post he added: "We cannot reconstruct with certainty the identity of those who lived in the house, but these fragments bring us closer to their daily lives."

Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist destination, and excavation there continues beneath layers of volcanic ash and pumice. In January, the park announced a 2,000-year-old love note and an illustrated gladiator fight scene inscribed on a city wall. In December 2025, archaeologists reported that some residents returned to live in the city after the eruption.