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Excavation Update From Pompeii

Pompeii Gladiator DrawingsNAPLES, ITALY—Gizmodo reports that recent excavations at Pompeii have uncovered graffiti on the walls of the House of the Colonnaded Cenacle that may have been drawn by children with charcoal. The images include two gladiators; a possible hunting scene with a figure thought to represent a wild boar; the head of a bird of prey; outlines of small hands; figures playing with a ball; and a scene drawn in red pigment of two boxers—one of whom appears to have been knocked out. In front of the House of the Painters at Work, researchers uncovered skeletal remains of a man and a woman who appear to have taken refuge from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 in a small corridor. A painting of a child wearing a hood with a small dog at his feet was also discovered in the home. To read about election graffiti recently found in a home in Pompeii's Regio IX, go to "Pompeian Politics."