Pompeii Study

DP: 1

a. Geographical features and natural features of Campania

b. The eruption of 79AD and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum

c. Early discoveries and the changing nature of excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries

d. Representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time

DP: 2

a. The economy: role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occupations

b. The social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves

c. Local political life: decuriones, magistrates, comitium

d. Everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply and sanitation

e. Religion: household gods, temples, foreign cults and religions, tombs

f. The influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art and architecture

DP: 3

a. Changing interpretations: impact of new research and technologies

b. Issues of conservation and reconstruction: Italian and international contributions and responsibilities

c. Ethical issues: excavation and conservation, study and display of human remains

d. Value and impact of tourism: problems and solutions

Sources and Examples for Exam

https://dc.edu.au/ancient-history-pompeii-herculaneum/

DP 1: Survey

a) Geographical setting and natural features of Campania

· Coastal region, access to sea, good for trade, use of resources from the sea

· Volcanic proximity provided fertile soil

· Ideal for growing grapes

· Water from River Sarno

· Ideal resort towns

· Sources: written sources, frescoes, agricultural evidence including livestock and plants, sewer systems

b) The eruption of AD79 and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum

Best Evidence

· Stratigraphy – layers in the ground

Mount Vesuvius

· Erupted in 1631, killing 4000 people, and during the restoration after the eruption, they discovered Pompeii and Herculaneum ruins

Pliny the Younger

· Wrote a first-person account of the eruption

· Detailed the voyage of his uncle Pliny the Elder

· Watched the eruption from Misenum

· Leaves Misenum with his mother

· Said that tremors were common in the area

· Only eyewitness of the event to have survived

Effect on Rome

· Pompeii and Rome had a history of being at odds (Social War of 90BCE), eruption stops any further conflicts and takes out one of Rome’s adversaries

· Roman control of Pompeii was limited, allowed to keep language and culture but did not have status as Roman citizens

· Social War of March 90BCE

· Pompeii joins with other Samnite towns in Italy in uprising

· Demands full Roman citizenship and rights

· Roman army (more experienced) overtook Pompeiians

· Pompeii loses virtually all its independence

c) early discoveries and the changing nature of excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries

· Discoveries of bits and pieces were taken and used to decorate homes

Early Excavators

Name

Year(s)

Description

Charles VII and Rocque Joachim de Alcubierre

1734

Began excavations at Herculaneum

Dug 20 meters down into the volcanic rubble

Worked by the light of torches, sometimes would go out and risked suffocation

Dug through house walls and destroyed artifacts

Best of the artifacts were set aside for the king’s collection

Common artifacts destroyed and holes filled back in

Rocque Joachim “knew as much of antiquities as the moon does of lobsters” – Winckelmann (1771), art historian

Attempted to dig up Pompeii but found it too difficult and returned to Herculaneum

Karl Weber

1750

Appointed by Charles VII

Believed that the site should be excavated systematically and document

Discovered the Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum (1800 carbonized scrolls)

Fiorelli

· Divided Pompeii into 9 regions

· Numbered insulae and buildings

· Precise locating of finds

· Helps give a better overall picture

· Worked methodically, top down, room by room, one building at a time

· Systematic, prevented collapse

· Better timeline of artifacts, less destruction of the site

· Published findings

· Allows other historians to access finds

· Increased academic debate, permanent records, increased study

· Went from treasure hunting to academic excavation

Spinazzola

· Excavated half Via dell’Abbondanza

· Reconstructed streetscape and facades of buildings

· Gave visitors a “snapshot” of Pompeian street

· Looks with no substance, multiple collapses from unexcavated interiors

· Reconstructed upper stories

· Often incorrect, radically altered our concepts of streetscape

Maiuri (1924-1961)

· Brought Pompeii to life

· Increased public interest

· Extensive excavations

· Much of which fell into decay

· Revealed Villa of Mysteries

· Instantly famous

· Studied a stratigraphic section

· Revealed layers of deposit of eruption

· Studied pre-Roman occupation

· Was responsible for Herculaneum

Guzzo (1995 +)

· Negotiated keeping funds from site to $9 million

· Site maintenance is costly, helps fund various projects

· Attracted international teams of experts to conduct investigations and conservation projects

· More scholarly research, spread the cost of conservation, also give other countries much needed fieldwork

Fausto Zevi (1977 +)

· Halted excavations, concentrated on conservation

· No new discoveries, safeguarding both excavated and unexcavated areas for future study and enjoyment

· Photographed site, over 1800 pics

· Permanent record

· Identified poor security and incorrect conservation

· Prevent theft and repair poor

August Mau

· Published typology of 4 painting styles

· Chronological dating of decorations

· Problematic, too subjective

· Works well with styles 1 & 2

· Breaks down on styles 3 & 4

· Also published work on principal buildings

· Was instrumental in creating an atmosphere of international study

d) changing representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time

Name

Year(s)

Description

Jakob Phillipp Hackert

1799

Official royal painter of Naples

Painted ruins of Pompeii with romantic surroundings

Romanticism period

Highlighted the idyllic parts of the view, probably not a completely accurate picture of the time

Francois Mazois

1812

Architect/artist

454 paintings

The Ruins of Pompeii

Attempts to document his observations overshadowed by his romantic style

Early excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum were hijacked by looters, treasure hunters and those with no real knowledge or interest in preserving the past. One of the earliest excavators at Herculaneum, Rocque Joachim, is the perfect example of the destruction caused by the ignorance of these excavations. Appointed by Charles VII of Naples, his only aim was to bring treasure for his king and therefore disregarded any artifacts that were common in nature and wouldn’t please the king. His methods were also questionable. His workmen often worked in darkness due to torches going out and risked suffocation in the tunnels they dug. Johann Winkelmann described Joachim as “[knowing] as much of antiquities as the moon knows of lobsters.” In Source A, it is clear that Winckelmann is critical of the early methods used by excavators in Pompeii and Herculaneum. His mention of how the brass letters “were torn from the walls, without first taking a copy of them and then [threw them] pell mell into a basket” shows the careless nature in which early excavators handled artifacts and the lack of documentation that they provided. This is further solidified in Source B in which Goethe states that the site was “casually ransacked as if by brigands.” Goethe takes a similar stance to Winckelmann in that he is extremely critical of the methods used by these excavators. His lamentation of the loss of many artifacts that were destroyed in the reckless process of these excavations shows how incompetent men like Joachim really were.

· Tells us more about time period than Pompeii

DP 2: Investigating and interpreting the sources for Pompeii and Herculaneum

a) the economy: role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occupations

Herculaneum

Pompeii

· slower paced resort town

· fishing

· craftsmen

· after earthquake in AD62, increased demand for bricks

· prostitution, but little evidence of brothels

· bustling center of commerce

· 600 or so excavated private shops, bars, inns

· Markets around the forum

· 20 or so maritime warehouses

· Paintings of cargo vessels on the Sarno river

· Images of Mercury – god of commerce

· Wine and oil an integral part of society

· Agriculture the most respectable way of earning a living

· Land ownership translating to status

· Pottery industry spawning from the need to store goods (foods and wines)

· Wealthy owned vineyards because of long wait between profits

· Estates not maintained by owners rather by hired help and trusted dependents

· Had rooms for pressing grapes (torcularia) and fermentation (cellae vinariae)

· Massive capacities, thousands of liters

· Several different varieties of wines

· Olive oils produced in same places as wines

· Produced garum (fish sauce used as condiment in Roman cuisine)

· Fishermen sold their catches in the markets around the Forum, but some garum makers sourced their fish more directly

· Foul stench of garum meant that it was probably manufactured outside the city walls

· Salt plants

· Wool was important

· Dyeing of wool, washing and creation of fabric and cloth

· Cloth manufacture took place at an officina (workshop) and sold to cloth merchants

· Fulleries or laundries were businesses (Fullery of Stephanopoulos)

· Bakeries produced different sorts of breads

· Bread is hard and deteriorates quickly

· Most bakeries sold their products to different shops, few had adjoining shops to sell their own bread

· Carpenters

· Plumbers

· Wheelwrights

· Tanners

· Tinkers

· Ironmongers

· Goldsmiths and silversmiths

· Marble workers

· Stone masons

· Gem cutters

· Glass makers

· Prostitution, 26 brothels found

· Emeralds found in Oplontis cave not native to Pompeii, suggests trade with Egypt

· Wine, olive oil, wool, fulleries, prostitution, blacksmiths, smiths, gem cutters, tanners, tinkers

Forum:

http://ermakvagus.com/Europe/Italy/Pompeii/pompeii_forum.html

Commercial: food markets, included shrine to the Imperial family

Religious: worship of Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera) and Minerva (Athena)

Religious: sanctuary for Lares (household gods and city-wide gods) and deified emperor Augustus

Religious: debated use, some believe it’s dedicated to Genius (family protector) of Octavian Augustus, cult of Vespasian

Religious: used for worship of Apollo

Commercial: dedicated to rich and influential priestess, Eumachia, trading fabrics and linens, warehouse for fabrics and linens

Political: “court”, used for civil justice, commercial life in Pompeii, business and financial deals

Political: used for People’s Assembly and town meetings

Political: offices for aediles in the west, center offices were for the council, east wing was for the duumvirs

b) the social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves

· Diverse mix of cultures

· Relatively healthy, but some indications of age related and dental diseases

· There were fluid relationships between freeborn, freed slaves and slaves

· Freed slaves could become very wealthy

· Women were an active part of society – economic, political and religious (could not vote)

· Julia Felix, Eumachia and Mamia were three prominent female figures

c)local political life: decuriones, magistrates, comitium

· Political system modelled on Republican Rome

· Democratic election

Magistrates

Councilors

· Elected for a period of one year

· Commanded a council of men who had all previously been magistrates

· Made up of freeborn males

· Reputable character

· Respectable jobs (not actors, executioners or gladiators)

· Privileges: best seats in theaters and Amphitheater

· Had to live in the town or surroundings

· Unknown minimum land requirement

· Life appointment

· Controlled finance and religion

· Control of Forum and streets of tombs (granted honorific tombs to major benefactors)

· Supervised building public buildings

· Implemented standard weights and measures

Aediles

Duumvirs

· Two aediles appointed in election each year, started term in office on July 1

· Began term alongside magistrates

· “Junior magistrates”

· “Duumvirs in charge of streets, sacred and public buildings”

· Two duumvirs appointed in election each year, started term in office on July 1

· Began term alongside magistrates

· “Senior magistrates”

· Position of aedile was prerequisite

· Oversaw the council and implemented decrees passed by the council

City council:

· 100 members (decurions)

· Ex-magistrates

· Influential

· Elite

· Freeborn citizens

· Not actors or innkeepers

· Life-long position

· Came available after death or disgrace of former holder

· Advised the Quattuorviri

Legislative Branch (decuriones)

Quattuorviri:

· Two duumvirs

· Electoral rolls

· Civil and criminal cases

· Became the quinquennial every five years to conduct census

· Two aediles

· Sacred and public buildings

· Roads and sewerage

· Markets

· Public order

· Sponsored theater and spectacles

Executive Branch

Pompeiian Governmental Structure

· Integral to political life

· Expected to use own funds to maintain imperial cults

· Therefore, had to be rich

· Both wealthy freeborn and freedmen eligible

· Many magistrates were part of this group

Priesthood

· Used for the election of magistrates

· City divided into voting precincts

· Could vote individually or as part of a group (guild)

People’s Assembly

d) everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply, sanitation

Housing

Wallace-Hadrill has identified four general types of houses:

Type I: one or two roomed houses, used as both residence and shop or workshop.

Type II: from two to seven rooms, with larger workshops and living areas.

Type III: the average Pompeian residence of between eight and thirteen rooms with a combination of public and private spaces.

Type IV: the largest houses, designed for entertaining. They may have been created from a number of smaller houses remodeled to make a singly building. They included quarters for a number of slaves.

Latin Term

Definition

fauces

the entrance corridor

vestibulum

entrance hall

atrium

Reception room, generally with compluvium and impluvium

compluvium

opening in the roof which allowed light and rainwater into the atrium

impluvium

shallow pool which collected rainwater from the compluvium

tablinum

room off the atrium, used for receiving clients and conducting business

peristyle

colonnade or covered walkway around a courtyard or garden

cubiculum

a small windowless bedroom

triclinium

a dining room with space for three long couches around a serving table

lararium

family shrine of the lares, the spirits of the entry of houses

Limitations of architectural evidence

· Difficult to determine function of houses

· Size of house doesn’t necessarily line up with status

· Difficult to determine if the house was occupied by one family or several

Townhouses

· Wallace-Hadrill (ancient historian at Cambridge) – “interlocking jigsaw of large, medium and small houses” (on first impressions of Pompeii

· Flimsy houses suggest boom in population (e.g. House of Trellis)

· Exterior – not indicative of status or wealth, open out into raised streets, bland and not decorated, wooden doors

· Vitruvius (Roman author, “De architectura”) – “buildings having magnificent interiors [should also have] elegant entrance courts to correspond: for there will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low, mean entrance.” (fauces and vestibulum)

· Earliest houses have no compluvium (opening in roof), shows progression and evolution of Roman architecture.

· Peristyles – favored way of bringing light into house, some grander houses had more than one (House of Citharist – three)

Leisure Activities

· Athletics

· Palestra (adjacent amphitheater)

· Drinking

· Gambling

· Spectator sports

· Blood sport, gladiators and hunts

· Numerous inscriptions announcing blood sport events:

· “the gladiatorial troupe of Certus, aedile, will fight at Pompeii on 31 May. There will be a hunt and awnings.”

· “Good fortune to Gnaeus Alleius Maius, the leading games-giver.”

· Music

· Theater

· Executions

Food and Dining

· Food and Dining

· Cereal: barley, millet, wheat

· Pulses: peas, beans, lentils

· Meat: goat, sheep, cattle, poultry, game birds

· Seafood: fish, scallops cockles, lobster, cuttlefish, garum

· Nuts and Seeds: walnuts, almonds, chestnuts, poppyseeds

· Vegetables: cabbage, onion, garlic, lettuces, asparagus, cucumber, leek, radish, turnips

· Fruit: figs, prunes, dates, pears, peaches, apples, cherries, olives, grapes, pomegranates

Clothing

Very little actual clothing survives, and although there is plenty of visual representation in frescoes – there is an issue with reliability;

· Only the upper classes commissioned works of art

· Individuals posed, and so they most likely dressed up – the painting is idealized

· Very little day to day life

· Doesn’t account for style changes

What we do know is;

· Most males wore a knee-length tunic made from wool, worn with a belt

· Only citizens were allowed to wear a toga

· Women, both freed and freeborn, wore full length tunics (tunica). But married women wore a stola, a sleeveless tunic suspended from the shoulders by short straps

· Many women wore a palla, a long cloak, when they went outdoors.

Health

· Evidence of dental problems and age-related diseases

· Not a good idea to go into the baths with open wound because of gangrene risk

· Twins found in cellar at Oplontis show signs of Syphilis, which supposedly wasn’t introduced to Europe until Columbus

Baths

· Social occasion

· Wellbeing of body and spirit

· Archaeologists have discovered four in Pompeii

· Stabian (oldest)

· Forum

· Central (under construction during the eruption)

· Sarno

· Archaeologists have discovered two in Herculaneum

· Suburban (best preserved of either city)

· Forum

· Different sections or hours for men and women

· Layout:

· Vestibule: often an exercise yard

· Apodyterium: changing rooms

· Frigidarium: one circular cold bath

· Tepidarium: transition room so people’s bodies could adjust to temperature changes, sometimes accompanied by laconicum (sweat room heated by brazier)

· Caldarium: hot room with alverus (hot, rectangular bath, capacity approx. 10) and labrum (cold, circular bath for washing

· Suburban Bathhouse

· Supposedly financed by Marcius Nonius Balbus

· Elegant

· Faced sea

· Vestibule: four red columns, fountain, bust of Apollo

· Back room for sex

· Lively places

· Open nights as well as day

· Snacks, stroll, reading

· Sexual activities

Water Supply and Sanitation

· Aqueducts – covered to keep water pure

· Utilized the arch

· Running water

· Castellum Aquae – water tower, at the high point of Pompeii with three holes that emptied into three tanks

· Private homes

· Public baths

· Public water fountains

e) religion: household gods, temples, foreign cults and religions, tombs

· Religion was essentially a political affiliation

Capitoline Triad

· Juno (Hera)

· Jupiter (Zeus)

· Minerva (Athena)

· Games held in their honor on the first day of September

· Temple based off a similar one in Rome, represents Rome’s power in Pompeii

Hercules, Apollo, Venus and Mercury

· Hercules

· Greek Herakles

· Regarded as the founder of Herculaneum

· Popular with sailors and traders because of his journeys

· Images and statues of him in Pompeii (statuette in Temple of Isis)

· Statue in the peristyle (walkway around the courtyard) of House of the Deer

· Apollo

· Emerged in the 6th century BCE

· Temple rebuilt in Hellenistic style in the 2nd century BCE

· Augustus accepted Apollo as his patron god

· Nero embraced him as god of music

· Venus

· Believed to have been born in the waters and is therefore often depicted nude in a seashell surrounded by water nymphs

· Sailors sought her protection

· Patron goddess of Pompeii

· Worshipped by people of all classes

· Urged through graffiti to endorse and sabotage political candidates – political presence

· Blamed for misfortune

· Mercury

· God of commerce

· Messenger god

Imperial Cult

· Cult of the emperor’s genius (household god)

· Set up by Augustus

· 21 part time priests called Augustales (connects to politics)

· Temple of the Genius of Augustus also known as Temple of Vespasian

Public Ritual

· Sacrificial banquet

· Sacrifice animals

· Rigid ritual with no deviation

Mystery Cults

· Cult of Isis

· Temple of Isis

· Shows strong trade links between Pompeii and Egypt

· Possibly could have been introduced through prostitutes (who were usually foreign slaves)

· Inscriptions indicate one third of worshippers were women

· Julia Felix was one of the worshippers

· Chapel dedicated to Isis, Serapis and Anubis – House of the Gilded Cupids

· Two daily services

· Isis – happiness, salvation and consolation from suffering

· High-quality wall paintings provide evidence

· Dionysus

· God of wine and fertility

· Later became cult of Bacchus

· Originated as women only but Annia Paculla (priestess) admitted men

· Celebration of rites five times a month

· Spread quickly

· Wine and feasts were part of celebrations

· Committed debaucheries while under the influence of alcohol

· Secretive nature worried Roman senate because of potential political conspiracy

· Suppressed in Rome and continued to flourish in Pompeii and Herculaneum

· Light-hearted

· Paintings in the Villa of Mysteries depict rituals of this cult

Household Guardians

Description

Lares

Protector of the household, protector of farms and boundaries, depicted as two dancing youths, lararium

Penates

Store of food, reside in the recesses of the house

Genius

Force or spirit of the head of the house

Vesta

Goddess of hearths and altars, prayers and sacrifices addressed to her

Bacchus and Mercury

God of money and patron of commerce

Agathodaemon

Snake wrapped around the altar to protect the hearth and bring fertility

Death and Burial

· Most, aside from those within mystery cults, had no clear concept of life after death

· Tombs lined the streets leading to the city gates

Herculaneum has shops and villas interspersed with tombs

Those without families belonged to “funeral clubs”, paid a fee while alive and ensured they would be cremated

Paterfamilias responsible for seeing to the proper burial of everyone in his family including slaves and freedmen

Family tombs

Kept in glass or terracotta urns

Most people were cremated by 1st century CE

Two most impressive outside the Nucerian and Herculaneum gates

8 necropolises outside the city gates

Necropolises

Public

Private

Temple of Apollo

The Lares (household god) was kept in a Lararium and prayed to and made sacrifices to in the home

Temple of Isis

There might also be paintings of the main gods in the home

Temple of Capitoline Triad (aka Temple of Jupiter)

Jews have their personal shrines

Temple of Vespasian

Egyptians had their personal gods

Temple of the Lares

It is believed there was some Christianity (questionable).

Temple of Venus

Tombs were a public display of private interment, and wealth

Temple of Asclepius

Many foreign cults were only celebrated in the home, i.e. The Dionysiac Rituals (House of the Mysteries), also cults of Herakles and Isis

Temple of Fortuna Augusta

(Herakles/Hercules was the patron of both Pompeii and (especially) Herculaneum, found in Herculaneum: libation bowl, devotional lamp, sacred oil container, statues all suggest cult of Hercules.)

Pompeian Temples

Roman Temples

· Temple of the Capitoline Triad (aka Temple of Jupiter)

· Temple of Vespasian

· Temple of the Lares

· Temple of Venus

· Temple of Fortuna Augusta

Greek Temples

· Temple of Apollo

· Temple of Asclepius

Egyptian Temples

· Temple of Isis

Other religions

· Judaic adherents

· Various cults from Mesopotamia

· Cult of Dionysus

· Cult of Herakles

f) the influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art and architecture

Greek

House of Vettii:

Ionic

Corinthian

Doric

Picture

Description

N/A

“The punishment of Ixion”

House of Vettii

“The sacrifice of Iphigenia”

(Trojan War)

“The Alexander Mosaic”

House of the Faun

Peristyle in the House of Vettii

· Found in frescoes, statues, architecture

· “Sound mind, sound body” attitude comes from the Greeks

· Herculaneum named after Hercules

· House of the Faun – Greek tragic masks with curly wigs, depictions of Greek theater

· Greek architect Hippodamus created the grid structure for the city of Pompeii

Egyptian

Picture

Description

“The Nile Mosaic”

House of the Faun

“Isis (left) welcoming Io (right)”

Temple of Isis

· Temple of Isis was one to be reconstructed after the earthquake of AD62, suggesting its significance and importance in Pompeii

DP 3: Reconstructing and conserving the past

a) changing interpretations: the impact of new research and technologies

General Health (connects to DP:2, everyday life)

· Health is a combination of genetic and environmental factors

· Health and nutrition can be identified by the growth of bones

· Can draw conclusions about diet and lifestyle of an individual through CT scan, DNA and coprolite analysis

Pathology (disease) (connects to DP:2, everyday life)

· Analysis of bones (and soft tissue where available) affords the identification of such diseases as: porotic hyprostis, HFI (Hyperostosis frontalis interna), Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Respitory disease and lice infection

· Draw conclusions on the health of an individual and of a population as a whole

· Soft tissue is extremely rare P&H, and bone analysis is dependent on the sample and not all diseases make into the bone until last stages

Cause of Death

· PLASTER CASTS

· Preserved impressions of soft tissue

· Some positioning reveals manner of death

· Peter Baxter studied 41 casts, 50% displayed the pugilist pose – exposed to very high temps at death or soon after (Muscular contraction is a result of heat on protein) 200-250C

· Cadavic spasm = total muscle contraction caused by thermal coagulation, accounts for the unusual positioning of some of the bodies

· SKELETONS

· Have no soft tissue which is what makes scientific analysis next to impossible

· They do display the same poses as plaster casts, by do NOT maintain that pose once excavated

DNA

· Can reveal the relationship between individuals and groups, info about sex, inherited diseases etc.

· Less than 2% of the DNA that can be found in fresh bones is extractable from ancient skeletons

· Development of polymerase chain reaction technique has enabled minute quantities of DNA to be amplified for study

· High temperature the bodies were exposed to destroyed much of the genetic material

Example

Description

Italian Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation (1970)

· 18000 photos of painted walls and mosaic floors

· Only 20% of everything that had been revealed

· Documented before 1980 earthquake that destroyed many buildings

The Houses in Pompeii Project (1978 – 1986)

· German Archaeological Institute

· Salvage and investigate architectural finds

· Recorded two houses: House of the Ancient Hunt and House of Colored Capitals

The Via dell’Abbondanza Project (2004)

· New state of the art technology – surveying, photographic and computer

· Archaeological Superintendency of Pompeii

· Created photomosaic of 900-meter street (Via dell’Abbondanza)

· Useful digital resource for future

The Herculaneum Conservation Project (2000)

· Packard Humanities Institute

· Aim to halt the decay of Herculaneum

· Solved groundwater problems by restoring ancient underground sewer systems

· House of Relief of Telephus had a previously unknown floor, which they discovered

b) issues of conservation and reconstruction: Italian and international contributions and responsibilities

Four basic issues:

· Natural threats

· Sun bleaching

· Rain

· Damp

· Algae

· Lichens

· Human threats

· Trampling

· Graffiti

· Rubbish

· Museum displays

· National Archeological Museum in Naples is “inadequate” - Deiss

· Failed conservation

http://www.pompeii-sustainable-preservation-project.org/?lng=en

International Efforts

Italian Efforts

https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/818

c) ethical issues: excavation and conservation, study and display of human remains

THREE POINTS OF VIEW

· Is it educational or immoral?

· How will they feel upon learning the horrors of Pompeii’s downfall?

· Do they soil it by denying these people the rites of their culture?

· Consider their rituals surrounding death

· How would they feel about their remains being used for scientific research?

· How does their religion tie in?

Present Italians

Past Romans

Viewer

· Scientists, archaeologists, historians

· Lack of outcry can be seen as acceptance of current practices

· Long held tradition of displaying bodies, especially in Christian sense

It has been accepted in scientific circles to collect and study human remains, especially in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Museums have extensive collection and displays of bodies, skeletons, skulls etc. in various stages of preservation.

Keeping remains HAS come under scrutiny, often from indigenous groups seeking repatriation of the bones of their ancestors. (A case in particular is indigenous Australians, wanting the bones of their ancestors back from the British and Ashmolean Museums for proper burial. In a rare case, their cultural artefacts and skeletal remains were returned to the Aboriginal community)

The assembling or positioning of human remains for dramatic effect, a common practice during early Pompeian excavations, is not acceptable today.

Over the past 50 years attitudes have changed as cultural sensitivity about the display of human remains varies from community to community.

The Italian view is that there is a long tradition of displaying the bodies and body parts of dead saints, bishops and priests in religious context, such as a church. Therefore, their beliefs will be at odds with other communities.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM founded 1947 and which works closely with UNESCO) hasn’t banned the display of human remains, but rather it encourages sensitivity to community reactions.

The plaster casts in Pompeii give us valuable information about the general health of the population, and also reveal information about the circumstances of their deaths, which has contributed to our understanding of what happened. But what then should happen to the body within?

Archeologists believe that it is important to dig NOW before the site is lost to decay and seismic activity, however there are wealthy landowners that do not wish to give up their land for the sake of Pompeii’s excavation and conservation.

d) value and impact of tourism: problems and solutions

Awareness

Money

Interest

Broken curbstones, worn roads

Numbers contribute to wear and tear of the site

Theft

Rubbish

Vandalism

Possible Solutions:

· Blocking off sections of the site

· Channeling tourist money into conservation projects

· Using technology, cameras, to police theft, vandalism and breakage

Sources and Examples for Exam

The eruption:

Example

Description

Pliny the Younger

First-person account of the eruption

Changing nature:

Example

Description

Rocque Joachim

Dangerous working conditions

Stolen artifacts

Destroyed buildings

“knew as much about antiquities as moon does of lobsters” - Winkelmann

Karl Weber

Systematic approach

Discovered Villa of Papyri (thousands of scrolls)

Changing representations:

Example

Description

Jakob Phillipp Hackert

1799

Painting of Pompeii

Romanticism

Idyllic nature

Pompeii (movie)

2014

Dramatized

Hollywood

The economy:

Example

Description

Building of Eumachia

Commercial

Linen

Fullery of Stephanopoulos

Fullery business

Emeralds at Oplontis

Suggests trade with Egypt

Public weights and measures table at Forum

Commerce, trading system

Social structure:

Example

Description

Skeletons at Oplontis

Variety of races

Variety of genders

Variety of social class

Green bone discoloration suggests wealth because of jewelry

Building of Eumachia

Suggests prominent female figure Eumachia

26 brothels

Show prostitution

Politics:

Example

Description

Political graffiti

Campaign slogans

Basilica

“Court”, civil justice

Municipal offices

Offices for aediles, duumvirs and council members

Everyday life:

Example

Description

House of Trellis

Flimsy house suggests population boom

Vitruvius

“buildings having magnificent interiors [should also have] elegant entrance courts to correspond: for there will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low, mean entrance”

Palestra

Athletics activities

Inscriptions

Announcing blood sports like gladiators

Skeletons in Oplontis, twins

Suggest dental problems, age-related diseases and Syphilis

Suburban Bathhouse

Elegant, faced sea, bust of Apollo

Religion:

Example

Description

Temple of Apollo

Greek religions as well as Roman

Temple of Jupiter

Roman religions

Temple of Isis

Egyptian religion

House of Deer

Statue of Hercules in peristyle

Villa of Mysteries

Paintings of Dionysus cult

Greek influences:

Example

Description

House of Vettii

Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns

Temple of Apollo

Greek religion

House of Vettii – The punishment of Ixion

Reference to Greek mythology

House of the Faun – The Alexander Mosaic

Reference to Greek hero

Egyptian influences:

Example

Description

House of the Faun – The Nile Mosaic

Depiction of Egypt shows connection between Pompeii and Egypt

Temple of Isis – Isis welcoming Io

Reference to Egyptian mythology

Impact of new technologies:

Example

Description

CT scan, DNA analysis and coprolite analysis

Reveals details about diet and lifestyle

Bone analysis

Identifies diseases such as lice infection, respiratory disease and tuberculosis

Via dell’Abbondanza Project

New technology used to create photomosaic of 900-meter street

Italian and international:

Example

Description

Pompeii: Sustainable Preservation Project

German initiative

Conservation and education campaigns

Italian government

Cooperating with others conservation efforts