Archaeologists working near one of Pompeii’s main gates, Porta Sarno, have uncovered an extraordinary find—two near life-size statues dating back to the Late Republican period of Rome (2nd–1st century BCE). The statues, carved in high relief on the wall of a monumental tomb, depict a man and a woman and may represent either a prominent local couple or perhaps a priestess alongside a male relative.

Life-Size Statues on tomb wall at Pompeii — *Photo Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii*

This discovery is part of the ongoing research project Investigating the Archaeology of Death in Pompeii, led by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in collaboration with the University of Valencia, under the direction of Professor Llorenç Alapont.

What makes this find particularly exciting is how rare such detailed funerary sculptures are in southern Italy. According to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park, the statues were part of a large tomb wall that also included several niches used for cremation urns.

The female figure is especially striking. She’s shown wearing amphora-shaped earrings, bracelets, a wedding ring, and a lunula pendant—a crescent-shaped amulet worn by girls before marriage to ward off evil. Dressed in a flowing cloak over a tunic, she holds laurel leaves in one hand—a symbol tied to purification rituals—and what may be a scroll in the other. These details have led experts to suggest she could have been a priestess of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, fertility, and motherhood.

In ancient Rome, priestesses held one of the highest statuses available to women, often playing key roles in religious life and public rituals. As British archaeologist Sophie Hay noted in an interview with The Telegraph, the worship of Ceres was deeply significant in Pompeii, tying religious status closely to societal importance. This find adds strong evidence to the idea that women—particularly priestesses—had a more defined and respected role in public life than previously thought.

Life-size statues found at Pompeii — *Photo Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii*

As for the male figure, he’s dressed simply in a toga draped over his left shoulder. But without an inscription, it’s difficult to say whether he was the priestess’s husband, son, or another relative. “Sometimes you find two men, sometimes a trio,” Zuchtriegel noted, suggesting we may never know the precise relationship between the figures.

This tomb is located in a necropolis that’s been under excavation since the 1990s, when construction of the Circumvesuviana railway unearthed more than 50 cremation burials. Among earlier finds was the partly mummified body of a formerly enslaved man who had managed to climb the social ladder—a rare and moving discovery in itself.

Alongside the statues, archaeologists also found fragments of ceramic vessels, a broken bronze mirror, and jars that once held perfumed oils—all essential items in Roman funeral rites. After cremation, the deceased’s ashes were often anointed with scented oils before being placed in urns, sometimes alongside symbolic items like coins.

The statues have now been moved to the Palestra Grande within the Pompeii archaeological site, where they’re undergoing careful restoration. They’ll soon be featured in a new exhibition titled Being a Woman in Ancient Pompeii, which opens on 16 April 2025.

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