For the first time in 2,000 years, human eyes have seen the contents of the sealed sarcophagus inside the Tomb of Cerberus, the vividly frescoed chamber tomb found in Giugliano, outside Naples, last year. Archaeologists threaded a microcamera into a gap in the sarcophagus to view and photograph the interior.
They found an inhumed body in supine position covered by a shroud. The textile was mineralized and preserved by the unique conditions of the sealed sarcophagus and the sealed chamber tomb. Grave goods buried around the deceased include pottery vessels, unguentaria and strigils. The care taken in the construction of the tomb, the burial in the sarcophagus and its grave goods suggests the deceased was an important figure locally, and the head of the family the tomb was built to inhume.Samples have been taken from other inhumations on the funeral beds in the mausoleum and analyzed by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers. Pollen analysis and microscope observation revealed the presence of chenopodium, a genus of perennial herb colloquially known as goosefoot, and wormwood. These were likely applied to the bodies in creams to help prevent decomposition. Samples from the human remains are undergoing DNA analysis.
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