'Pizza' painting found in ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii

Even the ancient Romans liked their pizza.
Archaeologists in Pompeii said on Tuesday that they had found depicted on an ancient fresco the precursor to the modern-day pizza.
The 2,000-year-old painting – discovered in the middle of a half-crumbled wall during recent digs at the sprawling archaeological site – depicts a silver platter holding a round flatbread, alongside fresh and dried fruits such as pomegranates and dates and a goblet filled with a red beverage.
While it cannot technically be considered a pizza, since it lacks classic ingredients such as tomato and mozzarella, what was found in Pompeii "may be a distant relative of the modern dish", according to a statement.
"What was depicted on the wall of an ancient Pompeian house could be a distant ancestor of the modern dish," said experts at the archaeological park in a statement.
The devastating volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE buried the Roman city in thick ash, hiding from view its many treasures that archaeologists continue to slowly bring to light.
The fresco is believed to refer to the "hospitable gifts" offered to guests, following a Greek tradition dating to the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE and described by imperial Roman-era writers including Virgil and Philostratus.
Pompeii is only about 23km away from Naples, the modern-day home of the Italian pizza, a Unesco-protected food.
Pompeii's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said the newly uncovered fresco shows the contrast between "a frugal and simple meal, which refers to a sphere between the bucolic and the sacred ... and the luxury of silver trays and the refinement of artistic and literary representations".
"How can we fail to think, in this regard, of pizza, also born as a 'poor' dish in southern Italy, which has now conquered the world and is also served in starred restaurants," Zuchtriegel added.
The new excavations revealed an atrium of a house that included an annex with a bakery, partially explored in the late 19th century.
"In the working areas near the oven, the skeletons of three victims have been found in the past weeks," said experts at the park.
Archaeologists estimate that 15-20% of Pompeii's population died in the eruption, mostly from thermal shock as a giant cloud of gases and ash covered the city.
The Pompeii site, not discovered until the 16th century, has seen a burst of recent archaeological activity aimed at halting years of decay and neglect, largely thanks to a recently concluded €105mn ($114.85mn) EU-funded project.