Past HSC questions

Vesuvius HSC Questions

Note that as well as these questions, each year there are between 5 and 10 multiple choice questions for this section. You are encouraged to use the past HSC papers on the NESA website to practice these questions.

HSC 2017

Outline the influence of Egyptian culture in Pompeii. In your answer, refer to Source F and your own knowledge. (4 marks)

(Source F: Detail from mosaic, Pompeii [Nilotic scene from House of the Faun])

Describe the key features of political life in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Refer to Sources B and D and your own knowledge. (6 marks)

(Source B: Painted notice on a water towernear a public fountain atr Herculaneum

The aedile Marcus Alficius Paulus states: anyone who wants to throw away excrement in this place is warned that it is not allowed. If someone shall denounce this action, free citizens will pay a fine of [...] denarii and slaves will be punished in their dwellings by [...] lashes.)

(Source D: Dedicatory inscription, Pompeii

Caius Quinctius Valgus, son of Gaius, and Marcus Porcius, son of Marcus, quinquennial duumvirs, for the honour of the colony, saw to the construction of the amphitheatre at their own expense and gave the area to the colonists in perpetuity.)

How have conservation efforts attempted to deal with the impact of tourism at Pompeii and Herculaneum?

In your answer, refer to Sources G and H and your own knowledge. (10 marks)

(Source G: Excerpt from 'Tourists are finishing what the volcano started in Pompeii', New York Post, 24 February 2016.

Pompeii is facing another explosive threat... 'tourists are wearing out the ruins of Pompeii. The entrance steps of the Temple of Apollo, in particular, have been ruined by the influx of tourists,' UNESCO official Adele Lagi said at a conference...

But a press spokesperson from the site said there was no need to turn tourists away from Pompeii. 'High numbers of tourists concentrated in a single place does cause damage, but the way to avoid this is to redirect the itineraries within Pompeii and promote different parts of the site, such as the exhibitions and less-visited areas,' she said.)

(Source H: Panorama of the excavations at Herculaneum.)

HSC 2016

Outline the purpose of public buildings in Pompeii. Refer to Source C and your own knowledge of specific buildings. (4 marks)

(Source C: Line drawing of the Forum, Pompeii)

Explain what is known about the role of women in Pompeii. In your answer, use Sources B and D and your own knowledge. (6 marks)

(Source B: Translation of an advertisement from the estate of Julia Felix, Pompeii

To let, in the estate of Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius:

Elegant baths for respectable people, shops with upper rooms, and apartments. From 13 August next to 13 August of the sixth year, for five continuous years. The lease will expire at the end of the five years.)

(Source D: Wall painting from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii.)

Explain the contribution that new research and technologies have made to reconstructing the past in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

In your answer, refer to Sources F and G and your own knowledge. (10 marks)

(Source F: Screenshot of digital reconstruction of the Villa of the Papyri.)

(Source G: Extract from ‘Gardens’, Wilhelmina Jashemski, in The World of Pompeii, 2008

When the plants and trees growing at the time of the eruption died, their roots decayed, and the volcanic debris that covered the site gradually filled the cavities... It is then possible with special tools to empty the cavities, reinforce them with wire and fill them with cement. When the cement has hardened, the spoil is removed from around the cast to reveal the shape of the ancient root.)

HSC 2015

Outline the main features of streetscapes in Herculaneum. In your answer, use Source F and your own knowledge. (4)

(Source F: Image of streetscape, Herculaneum)

Explain what the evidence reveals about leisure activities in Pompeii. In your answer, use Sources B and G and your own knowledge.(6)

(Source B: Image of strigil and oil container found at Pompeii)

(Source G: Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii [two cocks fighting])

How has the understanding of ethical issues related to the study and display of human remains in Pompeii and Herculaneum changed over time?

In your answer, refer to Sources E, H, and I and your own knowledge. (10)

(Source E: Photograph of interior of a boathouse, Herculaneum [showing skeletons in situ])

(Source H: Excerpt from ‘Victims of the Cataclysm’ in The World of Pompeii, 2009:

It has traditionally been asserted that the sample of victims in Pompeii is skewed towards the old, the infirm, the very young, and women, all of whom were assumed to have been less likely to escape. There was no such assumption of bias at Herculaneum, since most inhabitants were presumed to have survived, until the discovery of skeletal evidence in 1982 … The skeletal evidence from the Pompeian and Herculanean adult samples suggested that there was no significant sex or age bias among the victims.

Dr Estelle Lazer)

(Source I: Excerpt from ‘Pompeii’s not-so-ancient Roman remains’, BBC News Magazine, 2013:

Ghoulish as they are, for most of us (me included), these bodies are always one of the highlights of any display of the discoveries from Pompeii (and a group of them will be starring in an upcoming exhibition at the British Museum). … The truth is, though, that they are not actually bodies at all. They are the product of a clever bit of archaeological ingenuity, going back to the 1860s.

Mary Beard

Professor of Classics, Cambridge University)

HSC 2014

Briefly outline Greek influences at Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your answer, use Source A and your own knowledge. (3)

(Source A: Image of actors rehearsing a play, found in the House of the Tragic Poet at Pompeii)

Describe types of economic activity which took place in Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your answer, use Sources C and D and your own knowledge. (6)

(Source C: Translation of text on an image of a pottery vessel in the second atrium of the House of A. Umbricius Scaurus at Pompeii:

Scaurus’ flower of garum made from mackerel, from the workshop of Scaurus.)

(Source D: View of a building at Herculaneum [a thermopolium])

Describe Italian and international contributions to the conservation of the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your answer, use Sources H, I and J and your own knowledge. (10)

(Source H: Image of Excavation trench leading to the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, after conservation work and construction of new protective shelters by the Herculaneum Conservation Project)

(Source I: Map of all visitor movement at Pompeii. Red [ ] lines indicate visitor movement

Locations 1–5 indicate high visitor traffic

Locations 6–10 indicate medium visitor traffic

Locations 11–15 indicate low or no visitor traffic)

(Source J: Two news items from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website. Both sources awaiting copyright)

HSC 2013

What do Source A and other sources reveal about the diet of people in Pompeii and Herculaneum? (3)

(Source A: Image of Foods from Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius)

With reference to Source E and other sources, explain how Pompeii and Herculaneum were affected differently by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. (6)

(Source E: Extract from Domenico Camardo et al., ‘Raising The Roof’ in World Archaeology, 2010:

The roof lay in a corner of the beach ... The team had to remove about a metre of volcanic deposits before the roof was exposed, still lying on the black sand of the beach.

Massive wooden beams up to 7 metres long, along with smaller timbers and rafters, were the first elements to be uncovered. These lay on top of the tiles that would originally have covered the roof, revealing that it had been flipped upside down by the brute force of the eruption ... Despite the monumental size and weight of the timbers, not one nail was used and only a few iron cramps were recovered.)

With reference to the information and ideas represented in Sources F, G and H, and your own knowledge, explain how new research and technologies since the 1980s have changed earlier interpretations of human remains from Pompeii and Herculaneum. (10)

(Source F: Extract from Estelle Lazer, Resurrecting Pompeii, 2011:

Interpretation of the human skeletal remains from Pompeii and Herculaneum has been dominated by a storytelling approach ...

Analysis of the skeletal remains enabled commonly held views about the population to be tested.)

(Source G: Graph of Age and sex distribution of skeletons from Herculaneum studied by Luigi Capasso in the 1990s)

(Source H: Extract from Marilena Cipollaro et al., Croatian Medical Journal, 1999:

In collaboration with the Pompeii Archaeological Superintendence, our research group initiated the study of ancient DNA extracted from human bone remains buried in Pompeii and Herculaneum ... [This research] represents a new bridge between the world of exact sciences and the world of history. This new approach that involves different research fields, such as archaeology, anthropology, genetics, and molecular biology, allows the investigation of problems that until now were thought to be inaccessible to human knowledge.)