Archaeologists have discovered a trove of good luck charms and items used in fertility rituals preserved for thousands of years in the ruins of Pompeii.
The dozens of items included crystals, mirrors, beads, amber, buttons made of bones, amulets, dolls, miniature penises and a small skull figurine.
They were found in the same room as the bodies of 10 victims of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79, including women and children.
The artefacts were found inside what remained of a wooden box, which had its bronze hinges preserved by the volcanic material that covered the city after the volcano's eruption.
Massimo Osanna, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, told Italian news site ANSA the discovery was like a "sorcerer's treasure trove" of artefacts.
He said they likely belonged to women, and the lack of gold in the box suggested they might have been owned by a servant or a slave.
"They are objects of everyday life in the female world and are extraordinary because they tell micro-stories, biographies of the inhabitants of the city who tried to escape the eruption," Mr Osanna said.
Mr Osanna said the objects contained iconography that invoked fortune, fertility and protection against bad luck.
"There are dozens of good luck charms next to other objects that were attributed with the power of crushing bad luck," he said.
"They could have been necklaces that were worn during rituals rather being used to look elegant."
The trove was discovered in the backyard of the important Casa del Giardino, where frescoes, preserved mosaics and historic graffiti were discovered earlier this year.
The site also contains an inscription that prompted historians to revise the likely date of the Vesuvius eruption, from August 24 to October 24.
