Pompeii ruins show that the Romans invented recycling

Pompeii is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pompeii is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Image: ElfQrin Wikimedia CC BY SA 4.0

Researchers at Pompeii have found remains large mounds of garbage outside the city walls of Pompeii. Garbage was separated and organised to be repurposed for example as construction materials.

These mounds were aligned outside the external walls of the city. The city of Pompeii was city with elegant villas, markets, artisan shops, bath houses and an amphitheatre which hosted gladiator fights with audience capacity for 20,000 people. The city of Pompeii was enveloped by lava due to a volcanic eruption which spread across the land and preserved the city under a thick carpet of ash and hardened pumice. The city was rediscovered in 1748 by a group of explorers.

To read more on this mysterious Roman settlement, log on to The Guardian.

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