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SEATTLE—Preliminary analysis of graffiti at Pompeii suggests that homeowners had some control over who painted on their walls. Eeva-Maria Viitanen of the University of Helsinki said at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America that graffiti was scratched into the stucco walls or written with charcoal, or was often created by professional political campaign painters. She found that political ads were usually placed on the walls of lavish homes. “Bars were probably more populated, but could their customers read and would they vote?” she asked.
