Embedded Files
Here is a listCurrent projects:
Casa de la Diana Arcaizante (VII.6.3)
Doors of Pompeii and Herculaneum
Forschungen auf dem Forum von Pompeji
Herculaneum Conservation Project
King's Visualisation Lab (various projects)
Les vestiges d’artisanat à Pompéi
Pistrina: les boulangeries de l’Italie romaine
Pompeii Food and Drink Project
Expeditio Pompeiana Universitatis Helsingiensis (The Pompeii Project of the University of Helsinki)
Pompeji-Projekte Institut für Archäologien Innsbruck
THIS WEBSITE HAS SOME GOOD SUMMARY NOTES
Past HSC Question 2016
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 soil is removed from around the cast to reveal the shape of the ancient root.
Past HSC Question 2013
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.
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: (Column 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.
Past HSC Question 2010
To what extent has research since the end of the 1960s changed our understanding of the evidence from the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum?
In your answer, refer to Sources F and G and your own knowledge.
Source F: Excavated human remains from Herculaneum.
Source G: Allison, PM, 1992, ‘The Distribution of Pompeian House Contents and Its Significance’, PhD thesis, University of Sydney, 1992, Vol I, p 14.
Past HSC Question 2006
Using Source 4 and your own knowledge, explain how new research methods and technologies have contributed to our understanding of everyday life in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Source 4: (photograph of) Lady of Oplontis
Lecture by Estelle Lazer on her latest work in Pompeii
Pompeii: New Secrets Revealed (Ian A. Hunt - Director, Mary Beard - Narrator, BBC 2016)
Interpretations
Developments in 2nd half of 20th Century.
Little new excavation within Pompeii. Need to preserve and document what has already been excavated.
New answers provided by sampling and probing beneath excavated areas.
New scientific and archaeological techniques and specialists from other areas, e.g., Applied Research Laboratory est. 1994. See Fig. 11.5 p.180 - specialists who contribute to archaeology.
Documentation of Existing Finds
Text p.191
Italian Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation: 18,000 photographs of painted walls and mosaic floors (less than 20% of all finds).
New Research
Projects
For each of the following projects answer these questions:
Who is running the project? (Person / Organisation)
Where is the project?
What is the purpose of the project?
ASSESSMENT of the project: What has the project achieved?
Other information, e.g. when the project began; duration of the project; funding for the project
Many of these projects are aimed to fill the gaps left by inadequate recording of the original excavations, through archival research, analysis of the existing remains and excavation below the AD 79 level. The extent of deterioration of the remains can also be studied
‘The Houses in Pompeii’ project
See p.191 of text.
1977 - German Archaeological Institute. Aim to investigate and record houses which had not been fully documented when first excavated. An Australian and New Zealand team under Jean-Paul Descoeudres studied the House of the Ancient Hunt and the House of the Painted Capitals from 1978 to 1986. See Pompeii Revisited in the school library.
‘The Insula of Menander’ project
See p.194 of text.
A whole city block - I.10 - to be analysed and documented from 1978. First stage published in 1997 - provided new understandings and interpretations of the insula. See a review of the book here. (Volume 2 is only US$350 from Amazon)
‘The Pompeian Forum’ project
See pp.192 of text.
Begun in 1988 under John Dobbins (University of Virginia).
Anglo-American Project at Pompeii
See pp.194-5 of text.
Since 1994 has been investigating VI.1. Pompeii Trust established in 2002.
The project website and that of the Pompeii Trust no longer exist. There is still some record of the project on the web at Archaeology Magazine website:
The British School at Rome's Pompeii Project
See p.194 of text.
The BSR project aims to take a small slice of the city, a single block of houses or insula, excavated first half a century ago, yet never published, and to see what can be said about it now to cast light on the city, its history and its life. Its three main components are archival research into the original excavation of 1952-3, the artefacts then excavated, recording and analysis of the standing remains, and the excavation of levels below that sealed by the eruption of AD 79.
Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia
The Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia, an American research project, is re-writing the social and economic history of Pompeii between the 2nd century BC and its destruction in AD 79 by excavating an overlooked and under-studied middle-class neighborhood in the shadow of the great public spaces.
Other projects under the auspices of the Soprintendenza:
The Via dell'Abbondanza Project (Pompeii: A Different Perspective)
The Swedish Pompeii Project - a study by the Swedish Institute in Rome begun in 2000. The aim of the project is to "record and analyse a full Pompeian city-block, Insula V.1".
One of the houses under study in the Swedish Pompeii Project is the Casa del Torello di Bronzo (House of the Little Bull) V.i.7. Below are some photographs of the house, and of the Swedish archaeologist responsible for the study, Thomas Staub. There are also seven pages of photos of this house at Pompeii in Pictures.
Entrance from the street Entrance from the atrium
Marble impluvium Atrium
Tablinum through to the peristyle
Peristyle above, water feature in peristyle right
Part of the peristyle water feature Lead underground water distribution system
Damaged fresco Fading fresco
The work of some individual archaeologists
Wilhelmina Jashemski (1910-2007)
See text “Dr Wilhelmina Jashemski and plant remains” p.77; “The wine and oil industries” p.103; "Market and flower gardens" p.106
Sarah Bisel
See text “The skeletons of Herculaneum” p.75
Some Australian archaeologists
Estelle Lazer
See text “Bones and casts from Pompeii” p.76
Estelle spent five seasons studying skeletal remains in Pompeii. Most remains had been gathered in one of the bath houses, the Sarno Baths (VIII.2.17).
Her aim was to examine the bones to see whether they reflect any age or gender bias. Her study shows that the remains appear to reflect a reasonably random sample of the population.
Some of the conclusions Estelle has drawn from her study are:
She disputes the view that the victims were the women, children, elderly and infirm.
Poor teeth: doesn't reflect social status. Worn teeth as result of volcanic grit in bread from the millstones.
10%: post-menopausal syndrome - hyperostasis frontalis. Led to obesity, tumours, facial hair.
Generally, the victims were in good health.
Estelle also studied the skeletal remain which had been found by Maiuri in the House of Menander. She found that these had been ‘improved’.
(You can watch Estelle on ABC's Big Ideas which went to air on 23 February 2010)
Jaye McKenzie-Clark (nee Pont)
Worked with Anglo-American project in Pompeii which aimed to study below the AD 79 level. Studied red-slip pottery from Insula VI.1 using petrological thin-section analysis to establish the source of the pottery. Came to new conclusions about the origins of pottery in Pompeii: that most was locally manufactured and there was a great variety in quality reflecting the different abilities of various workshops in the Vesuvius area. Her work has challenged the previous assumption that most pottery was imported from the east.
Some conclusions:
Vitruvius cannot be relied upon to provide an accurate idea of how rooms were named and used.
Pompeii was not frozen just as it had been in life. A number of factors have distorted the remaining material evidence, particularly that many important objects were taken from the houses by the occupants as they fled. Also there appears evidence that the remains have been disturbed in places, probably by people returning after the eruption to retrieve goods.
These factors make the site a more complex place to study than had previously been thought.
Her work has been published as Pompeian Households: An Analysis of the Material Culture, with an accompanying on-line database of the contents of the houses studied.
Some new technologies
Lady of Oplontis
(See also the Villa of Oplontis Project - text pp.196-7)
This is an example of new technology being used in the study of human remains.
A cast of one of the 75 victims found at Oplontis (near Pompeii) in the 1980s was made from epoxy resin rather than plaster. Resin casting allows bones and jewellery to be seen.
In 1994 the body was brought to Australia as part of an exhibition at the Australian Museum. The Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompeii gave permission for the body to undergo an MRI scan, the results of which were studied by
Estelle Lazer and medical specialists, revealing new information about her age, height, health and associated artefacts she was wearing or holding (e.g. a money purse).
Lady of Oplontis.
Philodemus Project
Text p.192
The carbonised papyrus scrolls found in the Villa dei Papyri at Herculaneum contain mainly the work of an ancient philosopher, Philodemus. In their charred state, they are very difficult to decipher. Using multi-spectral imaging it is possible to isolate the writing from the charred background.
The Philodemus Text and Translation Project centred at UCLA, with an international team of scholars, aims to translate the scrolls into English, to be made available to a wide audience for further study.
See the Philodemus Project at the UCLA website.
This Website is great for current projects LINK Blogging Pompeii- http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/p/current-projects_10.html
Use of CAD and three-dimensional imaging and model making
A number of the projects in Pompeii are using CAD to make accurate diagrams of specific areas of the site. Also three-dimension imaging allows models to be made which give a better understanding of the site and the buildings.
This had been used by the British School at Rome’s Pompeii Project – (text p.194) study of Insula I.9. 3-D images have been made of the whole insula, of the individual houses in the insula (e.g. House of the Beautiful Impluvium and House of the Orchard), and of objects found in the insula. These images are available online (see links above).
The Via dell’Abbondanza Project (text p.193) is creating a digital record of the buildings fronting the whole length of the street: “State-of-the-art surveying, photographic and computer equipment are used to create photomosaics that document the current condition of the structures.”
Archival photographs, electronic surveying and CAD programs are being used by the Pompeii Forum Project (text p.192) to create accurate architectural plans of the Forum and surrounding buildings to allow for greater understanding of the urban design of Pompeii.
2016 Q8 Sample Responses.pdfb. Changing interpretations: impact of new research and technologies
b. Changing interpretations: impact of new research and technologies
i. Pompeian forum project
This project, which began in 1988, was initiated because the:
Existing architectural plans of the forum were inaccurate and incomplete
Architectural and decorative remains documented as late as 1983 were already deteriorating rapidly.
The project’s main objectives were to produce more accurate plans and elevations of the surviving remains, supplemented by large-format black-and-white photographs of archival quality, and computer models. These were to be used to stimulate discussions about Pompeian urbanism among scholars, and to use the forum data to study the Pompeian response to the earthquake of 62AD.
The team, led by John Dobbins (professor of Roman art and archaeology at the University of Virginia) included classical archaeologist, a specialist in Roman architecture, an urban architectural historian, and urban designer, engineers and computer and AutoCAD specialists.
Structural engineering principles were brought to bear on archaeological questions. Much of the documentation work was performed using an electronic surveying device that interfaces with AutoCAD.
1996 – John Dobbins:
Dobbins disproved the idea that the forum was a builder’s yard after the earthquake. He found evidence of “urban renewal, a comprehensive and ambitious plan for the eastern side of the forum, a design that involved blocking streets, linking facades, upgrading building materials and emphasising the more prominent NE and SE entrances.”
Maiuri’s early interpretation, the Crisis Theory, was smashed by this evidence from Dobbins – instead of Maiuri’s purported ideals of economic decline and an already deteriorating town that met its end perhaps not
SUMMARY:
Began in 1988 because existing architectural plans of the forum were inaccurate and incomplete and architectural and decorative remains documents as late as 1983 were already deteriorating rapidly.
To produce more accurate plans and elevations of the surviving remains, supplemented by large-format black and white photographs of archival quality, and computer models.
These were to be used to stimulate discussions about Pompeian urbanism among scholars and to use the forum data to study the Pompeian response to the earthquake of AD 62.
Teams:
Led by John Dobbins – professor of Roman art and archaeology at the University of Virginia.
Included archaeologists, a specialist in Roman architecture, an urban architectural historian, an urban designer, engineers and computer and AutoCAD specialists.
Technology:
Computer mapping
Much of the documentation work was performed using an electronic surveying device that interfaces with AutoCad.
Changes in interpretations:
1996; Dobbins disproved the idea that the former was a builder’s yard after the earthquake. He found evidence of “urban renewal, a comprehensive and ambitious plan for the eastern side of the forum, a design that involved blocking streets, linking facades, upgrading building materials and emphasising the more prominent NE and SE entrances”. This is a change from Maiuri’s initial interpretaion of the Crisis Theory – that Pompeii was in economic decline and that the forum was in disarray after the eruption of AD 62.
ii. Herculaneum conservation project
In 2000, the Packard Humanities Institute, a philanthropic organisation, made a long term commitment by announcing its plans to give $10 million a year for ten years ($100 million) to excavate and preserve Herculaneum. The aim of the HCP (2001), which involves the British School at Rome and the local heritage authority, is to halt the serious decay to Herculaneum so that it can be maintained on a sustainable basis.
Initially, the HCP was faced with an emergency situation: how to deal with a serious groundwater problem. This was solved by restoring the ancient network of understreet sewers, reopening the ancient drainage conduits of individual houses and draining all water down to the ancient shoreline and out to sea. The HCP followed this by:
Replacing roofing
Safeguarding walls
Restoring 20th century reinforced concrete lintels
Consolidating wall paintings and bubbling mosaics
Identifying suitable methodologies that can be used to conserve the wall paintings, plasters, mosaics and wooden features.
The Getty Conservation Institute is working in collaboration with the HCP to address a number of conservation issues at the site, such as the flaking and powdering of paint on wall paintings, and the treatment of mosaic pavements. Their scientists are testing non-invasive techniques. They are focussing on the House of the Bicentenary where they have installed a weather station to monitor environmental conditions as part of their diagnostic investigation into the deterioration of the wall paintings.
Archaeological Discoveries as part of HCP
The work undertaken by the HCP has not only preserved the material remains for future research, it “has generated a whole series of archaeological results that arguably would never have emerged without the focus given to conservation priorities”. For example, archaeologists discovered that:
The natural tufa bedrock of the ancient shoreline had been quarried in pre-Roman times
In the period before AD 79, the ancient shoreline had been affected by “bradyseism”, a phenomenon that occurs in seismic areas along the coast where the sea appears to retreat and encroach.
The encroachment of the sea affected the Suburban baths by eroding the tufa building material and forcing the authorities to block many of the large windows to prevent the sea from entering
The House of The Relief of Telaphus had a previously unknown extra floor that the owners had filled in and buried to protect the house’s seafront from the encroaching sea. Also discovered was the original timber roof of the same house, four storeys below its original position, with the remains of a decorative ceiling. “The HCP archaeologists led by Domenico Carmado and Ascania D’Andrea have now virtually reassembled the 250 or so pieces of the roof and reconstructed the elaborately decorated ceiling panels.”. (FIND) According to Project Director Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, “It will be the first ever full reconstruction of the timberwork of a Roman roof.”
The ancient network of sewers and drains still contained organic and kitchen waste. In one sewer, the archaeologists recovered 750 sacks of excrement, the largest deposit
SUMMARY:
Goals:
In 2000, the Packard Humanities Institute, a philanthropic organisation, made a long-term commitment by announcing its plan to give $10 million a year for 10 years to excavate and preserve Herculaneum.
Aim is to halt the serious decay to Herculaneum to that it can be maintained on a sustainable bases.
Initially, the Herculaneum Conservation Project was faced with an emergency situation, having to deal with a serious groundwater problem.
This was solved by restoring the ancient network under-street sewers, reopening the ancient drainage conduits of individual houses and draining all water down to the ancient shoreline and out to sea. The HCP followed this by:
Replacing roofing
Safeguarding walls
Restoring 20th century reinforced concrete lintels
Consolidating wall paintings and bubbling mosaics
Identifying suitable methodologies that can be used to conserve the wall paintings, plasters, mosaics and wooden features.
Teams:
THe Getty Conservative Insitute is working in collaboration with the HCP to address a number of conservation issues at the site, such as the flaking and powdering of paint on wall paintings, and the treatment of mosaics.
Technology:
Scientists are testing non-invasive techniques. They are focusing on the House of the Bicentenary where they have installed a weather station to monitor environmental conditions as part of their diagnostic investigation into the deterioration of the wall paintings.
Changes in interpretations:
The restoration of the ancient drainage system revealed the carbonised roof and extra storey of the House of the Relief of Telephus.
The ancient network of sewers and drains still contained organic kitchen waste. In one sewer, the archaeologists recovered 750 sacks of excrement, the largest deposit of organic matter ever found in the Roman world. According to the Project Manager Jane Thompson, “instead of draining into the sea, this sewer was more like a giant septic tank that collected human waste, food scraps and discarded objects”
This website is also useful. Pompeii project.
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