Archaeologists discover 'extremely violent' drawings by children in Pompeii

[Judi Lynn]

The sketches are bleived to depict events the children had witnessed, rather than imagined

Crispian Balmer
Reporting by Matteo Negri
2 days ago

Archaeologists have uncovered charcoal sketches drawn by children in Pompeii, depicting possibly violent fights they may have witnessed.

The sketches of gladiator stick figures were discovered during excavations in recent months in Pompeii, a once-thriving city that was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago.



Cave drawings in Pompeii depict gladiators Courtesy of Pompeii Archaeological Park (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

Archaeologists also found the outlines of three small hands, two figures playing with a ball, a hunting scene possibly featuring a boar, and two fighters, one of whom is lying flat on the ground.

The director of the site, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said the naive line drawings, found on the wall of a house known as the “Colonnaded Cenacle”, were probably done by children aged six or seven.



Cave drawing of a small hand (left) and human figures (right) uncovered in Pompeii (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

Psychologists from the Federico II University in Naples believed the sketches depicted events the children had witnessed, rather than imagined, he said.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/pompeii-naples-children-drawings-archaeology-b2554293.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Ancient Gladiator Sketches Likely Drawn by a Child Discovered in Pompeii

Beautiful frescoes, rudimentary doodles, and a pair of skeletons are the latest discoveries out of Pompeii's ongoing excavations.
By
Isaac Schultz
PublishedTuesday 3:55PM

Two sets of human remains, a variety of paintings, and a handful of childrens’ doodles were recently found in Pompeii, the ancient Roman town that was buried by a volcanic eruption in 79.

Pompeii was rediscovered in the 18th century and remains an active archaeological site today. Due to the nature of the city’s destruction—it was totally covered in ash spewed up by Mount Vesuvius—the city was remarkably preserved. Two-thousand-year-old bits of food still sit in the city’s outdoor markets, and the grisly circumstances of its residents’ death are frozen in time, their last postures encased in ash.

The team’s report on the new discoveries was published today in the Pompeii Sites’ e-journal. It covers discoveries made in and around several houses at Pompeii. The human remains—of a woman and a man—were found just in front of the House of the Painters at Work. The individuals were “of advanced age,” according to a Pompeii release, and appeared to try to seek refuge from the eruption in a small corridor. Inside the house, archaeologists found frescoes of mythological figures including griffins, mermaids, centaurs, and the gods Venus (Aphrodite), Apollo, and Bacchus (Dionysus).

In the house of the colonnaded Cenacle (Cenacolo colonnato), excavators found charcoal drawings on the walls of one corridor. Based on their rudimentary look, the team concluded they were probably made by a child. The sketches show two gladiators facing off, an eagle’s head, and a hunting scene.

https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_1315/02c08647be5c85d7b0001cd1b5e8291c.jpg

More:
https://gizmodo.com/pompeii-child-graffiti-gladiator-sketches-discovered-1851504568

[Scrivener7]

2. That little hand!

Pompeii is an amazing, devastating place.

[Irish_Dem]

3. These drawings are a bit odd.

Last edited Sun Jun 2, 2024, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)

And I disagree with the Italian psychologists.

One of my graduate research areas was examining children's drawings as measures of mental status and intellectual functioning.

1. The Pompeii children did not have to necessarily see the violence, they could have heard about it.
They could be drawing a picture from stories they are told. Fables or other mythical stories.
Which I think could be the case as the children do not seem traumatized.

2. These drawings are not "extremely violent." At least not by American standards.
Disturbed children, PTSD children draw much more violent pictures than these.
Maybe Italy has different type children than we do in the US.

3. The human figures look like they were drawn by someone younger than 6 y/o.
There is no detail on the body and we have these triangle heads.

4. But then we have tables being drawn with more detail and fairly accurate.
The legs are a bit off. So this looks further along than the bodies would suggest.

If the pictures were more clear it would be easier to evaluate.

ETA I think the "tables" are animals. So we see the gladiators attacking animals?
And there is something small in the lower right hand corner, I cannot make it out.
I wonder what it is?

[msongs]

4. I was expecting archie and veronica nt

[Irish_Dem]

5. Actually you may be correct.

We might be looking at an early version of comic books.
Story telling for children.