naure.com
FoodSurprise 5/5Difficulty 4/5Reviewed on September 13, 2026

Garum, a fermented fish sauce, helped date the eruption of Vesuvius.

Why it is true

Analysis of garum pots found in Pompeii revealed that the sauce was made with bogues, a fish abundant in the Mediterranean between July and August. This confirmed that the eruption of Vesuvius occurred in late August or early September of 79 AD.

Source: Smithsonian

Would you rather be asked first?

This is the reading side of the site, so the answer is in the sentence above — that is the whole point of it. Test yourself works the other way round: the question comes on its own, and the fact and the explanation only appear once you have answered.

Test yourself →10-question challenge

Related facts

More in Food

See all →