An Ancient Landfill Unearths a Priceless Portrait of Everyday Roman

rom the outside it looked just a small hill, in the heart of Rome. But what we found inside Monte Testaccio, was the most ancient example of a massive ancient landfill from the time of Romans, filled with the remains of more than 50 million amphoraes, clay vessels once used to transport olive oil and other goods. Its discovery tolds us more about Roman commerce, cuisine, and consumption than any marble monument ever could

This landfill began forming around the 1st century CE as Rome’s trade routes expanded across the Mediterranean. Amphorae were the go-to shipping containers of the era, cheap and disposable. But once emptied, especially of oily goods, they were nearly impossible to reuse. The porous clay absorbed the oil, went rancid, and couldn’t be properly cleaned, making them unsuitable for storage or repurposing. The Romans designated a spot outside the city walls to systematically discard them.

Over the next 250 years, the pile grew to over 45 meters tall and 300 meters wide, layered carefully, with lime and soil occasionally sprinkled between layers to reduce odor and decay. In the amphorae, Romans documented details like the shipment's origin, the merchant's name, and the oil's weight on painted inscriptions called tituli picti. These ancient barcodes allow historians to trace trade networks stretching from modern-day Spain to North Africa.

Today, Monte Testaccio appears as a grassy hill in Rome that, to the unknowing eye, could easily be mistaken for a natural formation. But curiosity and a willingness to dig revealed an incredible example of how advanced Roman society was in terms of consumption and trade.

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