Washington:
Ancient elites in the famed Roman city of Pompeii enjoyed delicacies such as flamingos and munched on expensive imported meats like giraffe leg.
Archaeologists have spent more than a decade at two city blocks within a non-elite district in the Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried under a volcano in 79 AD.
The excavations are uncovering the earlier use of buildings that would have dated back to the 6th century.
Steven Ellis from the University of Cincinnati said the excavation is producing a complete archaeological analysis of homes, shops and businesses at a forgotten area inside one of the busiest gates of Pompeii, the Porta Stabia.
The area covers 10 separate building plots and a total of 20 shop fronts, most of which served food and drink. The waste that was examined included collections from drains as well as 10 latrines and cesspits, which yielded mineralised and charred food waste coming from kitchens and excrement.
Ellis said among the discoveries in the drains was an abundance of the remains of fully-processed foods, especially grains.
"The material from the drains revealed a range and quantity of materials to suggest a rather clear socio-economic distinction between the activities and consumption habits of each property, which were otherwise indistinguishable hospitality businesses," said Ellis.
Findings revealed foods that would have been inexpensive and widely available, such as grains, fruits, nuts, olives, lentils, local fish and chicken eggs, as well as minimal cuts of more expensive meat and salted fish from Spain.
Waste from neighbouring drains would also turn up less of a variety of foods, revealing a socioeconomic distinction between neighbours.
A drain from a central property revealed a richer variety of foods as well as imports from outside Italy, such as shellfish, sea urchin and even delicacies including the butchered leg joint of a giraffe.
"That the bone represents the height of exotic food is underscored by the fact that this is thought to be the only giraffe bone ever recorded from an archaeological excavation in Roman Italy," said Ellis.
"How part of the animal, butchered, came to be a kitchen scrap in a seemingly standard Pompeian restaurant not only speaks to long-distance trade in exotic and wild animals, but also something of the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet," Ellis said.
Deposits also included exotic and imported spices, some from as far away as Indonesia.