Pompeii was first discovered in the late 16th Century by accident when women digging a canal came across walls decorated by beautiful paintings, however excavations of the city didn't start until 1748. The name and origin of the site was unknown, until 1763 when engraved word were discovered "Res Publica Pompeianorum" which meant " The state of the Pompeians", giving a name to the city of Pompeii. The city of Herculaneum was discovered in 1738 by accident when a farmer was digging a well in Ercolano, a modern city built directly on top of the Herculaneum ruins, Excavations are extremely slow with more than two thirds of the city still undiscovered due to reluctant land owners and the hard solidified mud covering Herculaneum with depths of up to 20m. Pompeii and Herculaneum are both considered the worlds most endangered cultural sites due to the first excavations, and that it is preserved so well to give a detailed look into life as a Roman in 79AD.
During the first stages of discovery, excavations were carried out in order to find valuable antiquities for private collections of the wealthy, including Charles III the king of Spain. It wasn't until 1860, when Giuseppe Fioelli was appointed the Professor of Archaeology and took charge on the site that everything became tactical and organised. He ordered the stolen artefacts to be returned and distributed them around the site or in museums for safe keeping. Giuseppe also created a way of recording the data to insure that it could be put back exactly where it stood in 79AD. He divided the city into 9 sections, the blocks within these sections were numbered and finally each house on the street were numbered. This made it so that all the buildings could be conveniently located by 3 numbers. He was the first one to systematically excavate Pompeii by slowly uncovering the houses from the top down, collecting data as he went to help restore the ancient buildings and interiors. By doing this, Giuseppe gained knowledge and understanding about life as a Roman in 79AD, and what it would've been like during the eruption.
Another way Giuseppe gained this knowledge was by making plaster casts of the victims. As the pyroclastic flow and ash cloud moved down Vesuvius in 79AD eruption, bodies were killed instantly, becoming buried under metres of ash and pumice, hardening over time. As the ash and pumice hardened, the encased bodies slowly decayed, leaving their bones and an empty space. Giuseppe then poured liquid plaster in the body shape cavities, once set, he chiselled away the volcanic mater, leaving behind an accurate plaster cast of what had been buried underground for thousands of years. This perfectly captured the exact moment of death, just as it was nearly 2000 years ago. These plaster casts gave huge clues as to who these people were and how they may have lived life as a Pompeian. This is because the impressions left by the bodies created a detailed plaster cast, showing even the folds of their clothes and the straps of their shoes that they wore so long ago. Even today, the plaster casts found give archaeologists and historians to reconstruct the lives that were lost. These plaster casts not only showed human remains, but also anumal remains, food, furniture and other perishable materials.
Many people thought that nearly all of Herculaneum had been successfully evacuated due to there being not many bodies found within the city, and it wasn't until a boathouse filled with over 350 people, that this view changed. The victims found in this boathouse consisted of mostly children and women, most likely taking refuge from falling volcanic matter, not realising that their fate had already been set. The cause of their death was found to be Thermal Shock, and by the way the bodies were positioned, it was instant and painless, and they were most likely unaware of the pyroclastic surge that caused their death. The bodies found at Herculaneum were not subjected to the same form of death as the Pompeians because they were found mostly as skeletons. This tells us that they were mostly affected by the pyroclastic flow of the eruption of Vesuvius which ultimately melted their skin off, leaving only bones.Today, we have the technology and knowledge to be able to determine peoples ages (at death), sex, overall heath and health issues, and their heights. Some archaeologists are able to establish the occupation of the skeletons found, just by examining their teeth and bone density. X-rays are able to determine illnesses that Romans may have had when Mount Vesuvius erupted, an example of this is scratch marks found on many of the victims skulls suggest that lice was a big problem throughout the city.
Before Giuseppe, the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were haphazardly excavated, with people focusing on trying to find special and priceless objects or buildings. Those excavating didn't take much care when digging up artefacts and ruined many items, the sites were not protected so many buildings were looted or ruined by the elements. These are items that gave insight to how the Romans lived, and are now lost forever.
However, now the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum are carefully guarded and looked after, being restored continuously to ensure the survival of the antiquities that were found. Unfortunately, before Giuseppe took control on the excavations and protection of Pompeii, more than one third of paintings and frescos had faded completely due to sunlight and wind damage by 1957, and with no record kept, these were lost forever. Frescos, paintings, mosaics, building and statues today are subject to wind erosion and weathering damage, vandalism, sunlight exposure causing them to fade and even the acidic pigeon droppings. However these problems have been greatly improved by constructing shade covers and roofs to protect against the elements and even releasing falcons in an effort to diminish the number of pigeons that have infested Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some precious mosaics and frescos have been carefully removed to be put into protected museums to avoid damage. In their place, elaborate replicas had to be made so the public is able to view them onsite without the artefacts decaying even further. The attitude towards these amazing places that had been lost for centuries have changed from just wanting the wealth and popularity, to a scientific and wanting to understand more about the people that lived here and what they experienced in the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD.
During the first stages of discovery, excavations were carried out in order to find valuable antiquities for private collections of the wealthy, including Charles III the king of Spain. It wasn't until 1860, when Giuseppe Fioelli was appointed the Professor of Archaeology and took charge on the site that everything became tactical and organised. He ordered the stolen artefacts to be returned and distributed them around the site or in museums for safe keeping. Giuseppe also created a way of recording the data to insure that it could be put back exactly where it stood in 79AD. He divided the city into 9 sections, the blocks within these sections were numbered and finally each house on the street were numbered. This made it so that all the buildings could be conveniently located by 3 numbers. He was the first one to systematically excavate Pompeii by slowly uncovering the houses from the top down, collecting data as he went to help restore the ancient buildings and interiors. By doing this, Giuseppe gained knowledge and understanding about life as a Roman in 79AD, and what it would've been like during the eruption.
Another way Giuseppe gained this knowledge was by making plaster casts of the victims. As the pyroclastic flow and ash cloud moved down Vesuvius in 79AD eruption, bodies were killed instantly, becoming buried under metres of ash and pumice, hardening over time. As the ash and pumice hardened, the encased bodies slowly decayed, leaving their bones and an empty space. Giuseppe then poured liquid plaster in the body shape cavities, once set, he chiselled away the volcanic mater, leaving behind an accurate plaster cast of what had been buried underground for thousands of years. This perfectly captured the exact moment of death, just as it was nearly 2000 years ago. These plaster casts gave huge clues as to who these people were and how they may have lived life as a Pompeian. This is because the impressions left by the bodies created a detailed plaster cast, showing even the folds of their clothes and the straps of their shoes that they wore so long ago. Even today, the plaster casts found give archaeologists and historians to reconstruct the lives that were lost. These plaster casts not only showed human remains, but also anumal remains, food, furniture and other perishable materials.
Many people thought that nearly all of Herculaneum had been successfully evacuated due to there being not many bodies found within the city, and it wasn't until a boathouse filled with over 350 people, that this view changed. The victims found in this boathouse consisted of mostly children and women, most likely taking refuge from falling volcanic matter, not realising that their fate had already been set. The cause of their death was found to be Thermal Shock, and by the way the bodies were positioned, it was instant and painless, and they were most likely unaware of the pyroclastic surge that caused their death. The bodies found at Herculaneum were not subjected to the same form of death as the Pompeians because they were found mostly as skeletons. This tells us that they were mostly affected by the pyroclastic flow of the eruption of Vesuvius which ultimately melted their skin off, leaving only bones.Today, we have the technology and knowledge to be able to determine peoples ages (at death), sex, overall heath and health issues, and their heights. Some archaeologists are able to establish the occupation of the skeletons found, just by examining their teeth and bone density. X-rays are able to determine illnesses that Romans may have had when Mount Vesuvius erupted, an example of this is scratch marks found on many of the victims skulls suggest that lice was a big problem throughout the city.
Before Giuseppe, the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were haphazardly excavated, with people focusing on trying to find special and priceless objects or buildings. Those excavating didn't take much care when digging up artefacts and ruined many items, the sites were not protected so many buildings were looted or ruined by the elements. These are items that gave insight to how the Romans lived, and are now lost forever.
However, now the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum are carefully guarded and looked after, being restored continuously to ensure the survival of the antiquities that were found. Unfortunately, before Giuseppe took control on the excavations and protection of Pompeii, more than one third of paintings and frescos had faded completely due to sunlight and wind damage by 1957, and with no record kept, these were lost forever. Frescos, paintings, mosaics, building and statues today are subject to wind erosion and weathering damage, vandalism, sunlight exposure causing them to fade and even the acidic pigeon droppings. However these problems have been greatly improved by constructing shade covers and roofs to protect against the elements and even releasing falcons in an effort to diminish the number of pigeons that have infested Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some precious mosaics and frescos have been carefully removed to be put into protected museums to avoid damage. In their place, elaborate replicas had to be made so the public is able to view them onsite without the artefacts decaying even further. The attitude towards these amazing places that had been lost for centuries have changed from just wanting the wealth and popularity, to a scientific and wanting to understand more about the people that lived here and what they experienced in the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD.