---
title: "Food Preserves in Pompeii - Pompeii Online"
description: "Sources highlight the importance of seasonality and the ingenuity of Pompeians in adapting preservation techniques to different types of foods."
url: "https://www.pompeionline.net/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/pompeian-curiosities/food-preserves-in-pompeii"
date: "2026-09-16T12:00:18+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  Food Preserves in Pompeii: An Art for Survival

![Food Preserves in Pompeii: An Art for Survival](https://www.pompeionline.net/images/infografiche/Ancient_Pompeii_Food_Preservation_Techniques720.jpg "Food Preserves in Pompeii")

Food preservation was essential to everyday life in **Pompeii and the Roman world**. Fresh fruit, vegetables and other agricultural products were available only during particular periods of the year, while cereals, wine, oil and other foods had to be stored safely for months after production.

Preserving food therefore allowed households, farms, shops and businesses to manage the natural rhythm of the seasons and maintain supplies throughout the year.

The archaeological remains of Pompeii and the surrounding Vesuvian area provide direct evidence of storage vessels, amphorae, agricultural products and food remains. Ancient agricultural writers such as **Cato, Varro and Columella** provide additional information about preservation methods used in Roman Italy.

It is important, however, to distinguish between these two kinds of evidence: not every recipe described by a Roman author can automatically be assumed to have been used in exactly the same way at Pompeii.

## Storage as part of everyday life

Roman food storage began with choosing suitable places and containers.

Dry products such as **cereals and legumes** needed to be protected from moisture, insects and rodents. Wine and oil required containers that could hold liquids for long periods, while fruit and vegetables could be preserved using different techniques according to the characteristics of each product.

Large rural properties therefore contained specialised storage spaces.

Roman agricultural writers distinguish between wine cellars, oil stores, granaries and rooms for other agricultural products, showing that storage was considered an important part of managing an estate.

Archaeology confirms this organisation in the Vesuvian countryside. Villas around Pompeii contained storerooms, presses and large ceramic vessels associated with the processing and preservation of agricultural products.

## Dolia: the large storage vessels

Among the most characteristic containers of Roman farms and food businesses were the **dolia**, enormous terracotta vessels used for storing liquids and other products.

Because of their size and weight, dolia were often partly sunk into the floor. This increased their stability and made it easier to use very large containers within cellars and work areas.

They are particularly common in installations associated with **wine production**.

At **Villa Regina in Boscoreale**, a Roman farm specialising largely in viticulture, archaeologists identified a wine cellar containing **18 dolia**. The property also preserves a pressing room and exceptional traces of the vineyard cultivated around the villa.

Dolia were also incorporated into the counters of Pompeian **thermopolia**, although their function in these establishments should not automatically be interpreted as long-term preservation. They could hold food or drink intended for sale and consumption.

The variety of contexts in which dolia appear demonstrates how important large ceramic vessels were to the ancient food economy.

## Amphorae: storing and transporting food

**Amphorae** were among the most important containers used for transporting food and drink throughout the Roman world.

Their shapes varied according to period, place of production and, in many cases, the type of product they contained.

Wine, olive oil and fish sauces were among the products most frequently transported in amphorae.

The archaeological evidence from the Vesuvian area also includes amphorae associated with **fruit**.

At the Antiquarium of Boscoreale, for example, an amphora of Pompeian type preserves a painted inscription identifying its contents as **apples from Cumae**. The inscription also records the weight and possibly the initials of the producer.

This small object provides valuable evidence that fresh or preserved fruit could enter organised systems of transport and trade.

Amphorae therefore tell us not only what people consumed, but also how food moved between farms, cities and different regions of the Roman world.

## Cereals and legumes

**Cereals** could be stored for long periods if they were kept dry and protected from humidity.

Roman agricultural writers recommended well-ventilated granaries and emphasised the importance of preventing moisture from damaging stored grain.

Archaeological evidence from the Vesuvian area confirms that farms contained spaces specifically used for dry agricultural products.

At Villa Regina, one room has been interpreted as a storage area for **hay, cereals and legumes**.

Once transported into Pompeii, cereals could be ground in mills and transformed into flour. The numerous bakeries discovered in the city demonstrate the fundamental importance of grain and bread in the urban food supply.

Legumes were equally suitable for storage after drying and represented an important part of the Roman diet.

## Drying food

**Drying** is one of the simplest and oldest methods of food preservation.

By removing part of the moisture contained in food, drying slows deterioration and makes many products easier to store.

Fruit could be dried naturally, particularly in the warm Mediterranean climate.

The archaeological record from the Vesuvian area includes large quantities of preserved plant remains. At Oplontis, for example, **pomegranates were found arranged on wicker mats**, providing unusually direct evidence of the handling and preservation of harvested fruit.

Figs, nuts and other foods could also be stored in forms that remained edible well beyond the period in which they were harvested.

Ancient agricultural texts describe various methods for drying and storing fruit, but the exact procedure used for every archaeological find cannot always be reconstructed.

## Olives

**Olives** required processing before they could normally be eaten and could be preserved using several methods.

Ancient Roman agricultural texts describe olives treated with **salt, brine, vinegar, concentrated grape must and oil**, sometimes combined with herbs and spices.

These recipes demonstrate how sophisticated Roman knowledge of preservation could be.

Olives themselves survive archaeologically in the Vesuvian area. The Antiquarium of Boscoreale preserves examples with part of the flesh still attached to the stone.

Such finds confirm their presence in the local diet, while presses and agricultural installations provide evidence for the other principal use of the olive: the production of **olive oil**.

We should nevertheless avoid assuming that every preservation recipe described by writers such as Cato or Columella was necessarily used at Pompeii. The texts document Roman agricultural practice more broadly and provide a valuable comparison with the archaeological evidence.

## Salt and brine

**Salt** was one of the most effective preservatives available in antiquity.

It reduces the conditions in which many microorganisms responsible for deterioration can develop and was particularly important for products that needed to survive beyond their natural season.

Brine, a solution of salt and water, could be used for products including olives.

Salt also played a major role in the preservation and processing of **fish**.

Pompeii has provided important evidence for the production and consumption of fish sauces such as **garum**. An amphora preserved at Boscoreale still contains fish scales, bones and solid residues identified as garum.

Garum should not be confused with an agricultural preserve: it belonged to a different branch of food production based on marine resources. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the importance of controlled fermentation and preservation in Roman food culture.

## Vinegar, wine and grape must

Products derived from grapes were useful not only as drinks but also in cooking and food preservation.

Ancient agricultural writers describe the use of **vinegar, wine, boiled must and concentrated grape must** in the preparation or preservation of fruit, olives and vegetables.

Concentrating grape must by boiling reduced its water content and produced sweet preparations known by names such as **defrutum** and *sapa*.

These products could be used as ingredients, sweeteners and preservatives.

Their use must again be understood primarily through Roman agricultural literature rather than interpreted as direct evidence for a specific Pompeian recipe unless archaeology provides additional confirmation.

What archaeology does demonstrate very clearly is the importance of grapes and wine production throughout the Vesuvian area.

For more about this agricultural landscape, see [Pompeian Agriculture](https://www.pompeionline.net/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/pompeian-curiosities/pompeian-agriculture).

## Honey as a preservative

**Honey** was one of the principal sweet substances available in the Roman world and could also be used in preparations intended to preserve fruit.

Roman agricultural writers describe fruit stored or prepared with honey and provide recipes combining honey with other ingredients.

Its high concentration of sugars makes honey an environment in which many microorganisms develop only with difficulty.

However, these preparations should not simply be described as ancient “jam”. Roman recipes and modern preserves were produced in different ways and belonged to different culinary traditions.

It is more accurate to regard honey as one of several ingredients Romans could use to extend the life of certain foods and create sweet preserved preparations.

## Fruit preservation

Roman agricultural literature devotes considerable attention to the preservation of **apples, pears, quinces, grapes and other fruits**.

Methods varied according to the fruit.

Some products could be dried, while others were placed in carefully prepared containers, immersed in liquids or separated from one another to reduce damage.

Columella gives numerous detailed instructions, demonstrating how much practical knowledge Roman agricultural writers had accumulated about storage.

These descriptions are extremely valuable for interpreting the archaeological record, but they should not be presented as recipes discovered at Pompeii.

Pompeian and Vesuvian excavations instead provide the physical evidence: fruit stones, carbonised remains, amphorae, storage containers and agricultural installations.

Together, archaeological evidence and ancient literature give us a much richer picture than either source could provide on its own.

## Glass containers

Glass vessels were common in the Roman world and Pompeii has yielded many examples in different shapes and sizes.

They were used for **liquids, perfumes, medicines and food products**, depending on their form and context.

The widespread production of blown glass during the early Roman Imperial period made glass containers increasingly available.

The old idea that the introduction of glass jars represented a revolutionary development that transformed food preservation should, however, be treated with caution.

Ceramic vessels remained fundamental for agricultural storage and transport. Dolia, amphorae, jars and other pottery containers were used on an enormous scale.

Glass should therefore be understood as **one part of a much wider range of containers**, not as the invention that suddenly made Roman food preservation possible.

## Food preserved by fermentation

Some Roman foods depended on **fermentation**, a biological process that could both transform and help preserve ingredients.

Wine is the most obvious example.

Grapes were pressed and the resulting must fermented before the wine was stored in suitable containers.

Fish sauces such as garum were produced through a very different process involving fish and salt.

These transformations demonstrate that Roman food preservation was not limited to keeping fresh ingredients unchanged. In many cases the preservation process created an entirely new product with different flavours and properties.

The inhabitants of Pompeii therefore relied on a combination of drying, salting, fermentation, storage and preparation in preservative liquids.

## Food in Pompeian shops

Pompeii contained numerous establishments where food and drink were prepared and sold.

The **thermopolia** are among the most recognisable. Their masonry counters contained large openings fitted with ceramic vessels.

The recently excavated **Thermopolium of Regio V** has provided particularly valuable evidence. Archaeologists discovered food residues and animal bones associated with the establishment, allowing researchers to investigate what was prepared and consumed there.

Pompeii preserves around **eighty known thermopolia**, demonstrating the importance of eating outside the home for parts of the urban population.

The food found in these businesses should not automatically be interpreted as preserved for long periods. Some ingredients would have been prepared for immediate consumption, while others could have arrived already dried, salted, fermented or otherwise stored.

For more about food and eating in the city, see [A Journey into Pompeian Gastronomy](https://www.pompeionline.net/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/pompeian-curiosities/a-journey-into-pompeian-gastronomy).

## Seasonality and preservation

Preservation was particularly important because ancient agriculture was governed by the **seasons**.

Grapes, olives, cereals and fruit were harvested at specific times of the year.

Fresh produce could not be available in the same quantities throughout every season, so households and farms needed ways to make part of the harvest last.

Cereals and legumes could be stored dry. Wine and oil could remain usable for long periods when correctly stored. Fruit could be dried or processed, while olives required preservation before consumption.

Preserved products therefore complemented fresh foods and helped connect one agricultural season with the next.

Read more about the agricultural cycle in [Seasonality in Pompeian Agriculture](https://www.pompeionline.net/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/pompeian-curiosities/seasonality-in-pompeian-agriculture).

## What archaeology actually tells us

The exceptional preservation of the Vesuvian sites provides evidence that is rarely available elsewhere in the Roman world.

Excavations have recovered **carbonised bread, cereals, legumes, olives, fruit stones, nuts, agricultural equipment, amphorae, dolia and other storage containers**.

In some cases the original contents of containers can still be identified.

This evidence allows archaeologists to investigate food through several different disciplines, including archaeobotany, zooarchaeology and chemical analysis.

The evidence also teaches us to be cautious.

A recipe recorded by Columella tells us what a knowledgeable Roman agricultural writer recommended. A vessel containing olives or fish residues tells us what was physically present in a particular archaeological context.

Combining the two forms of evidence is extremely useful, but they are not interchangeable.

## Boscoreale: food and agriculture preserved by the eruption

The **Antiquarium of Boscoreale** is particularly important for understanding food production and storage in the Vesuvian area.

Its collections include agricultural tools, wine and oil amphorae, fruit containers, olives, fruit stones and other botanical remains recovered from Pompeii and neighbouring sites.

The displays reconstruct the different environments surrounding Vesuvius and show how natural resources were exploited by the inhabitants of the region.

Nearby **Villa Regina** preserves the structures of a working Roman farm, including its vineyard, wine press and storage vessels.

Visiting Boscoreale therefore provides an excellent complement to Pompeii: while the ancient city reveals markets, houses, bakeries and food businesses, the surrounding countryside shows where many agricultural products originated and how they were processed.

## Preserving food, preserving everyday life

Food preservation was not a single Roman technique but a collection of practical solutions adapted to different products.

**Drying, salting, brining, fermentation, storage in wine or grape products, the use of honey and careful storage in suitable containers** all formed part of the wider Roman knowledge of food management.

At Pompeii, archaeology preserves the objects and organic remains that allow us to see this system in action. Ancient agricultural literature helps explain techniques that the archaeological evidence alone cannot always reconstruct.

Together they reveal a society with a detailed understanding of **seasonality, storage and food processing**.

The eruption of **AD 79** interrupted daily life throughout the Vesuvian area but preserved an extraordinary collection of food, containers and agricultural installations. These remains allow us today to reconstruct not only what the inhabitants of Pompeii ate, but also the practical knowledge that allowed them to store and use food throughout the year.

   Details   Written by: Pompei Online   Also available: [![Italian](https://www.pompeionline.net/media/mod_languages/images/it.gif "Italian")](https://www.pompeionline.net/it/pompei-scavi/curiosita-pompeiane/conservazione-degli-alimenti)    Last Updated: 10 September 2026

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