Embedded Files
Past HSC Question 2017
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.)
Past HSC Question 2014
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.
Source H: (photograph 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.
Past HSC Question 2012
Using Sources A, B and H, and your own knowledge, explain the different ways in which archaeologists have reconstructed the past in the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Source A: (Photograph of) Plaster casts of bodies in the Garden of the Fugitives at Pompeii.
Source B: (Photograph of) Skeletal remains from the seashore at Herculaneum.
Source H: (Photograph of) Virtual reconstruction of a section of the Via dell’Abbondanza.
Past HSC Question 2011
Discuss the challenges of conserving the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
In your answer, refer to Sources H and I and your own knowledge.
Source H: A photograph of a building which collapsed in Pompeii in 2010
Source I:
... the very features that make the little town of Herculaneum such a vivid evocation of the past ... also render the site exceptionally difficult to preserve for future generations.
The British School at Rome
Past HSC Question 2009
To what extent has tourism influenced the way the sites of Pompeii and/or Herculaneum have been managed since the 1800s?
In your answer, refer to Source 5 and your own knowledge.
Source 5:
At the very heart of any understanding of Pompeii and its archaeology must be the demands of the tourist, who as Maiuri explained was the client of archaeology...
Ray Laurence, University of Birmingham
Past HSC Question 2008
Using Sources 4 and 5 and your own knowledge, assess methods used by archaeologists and/or other specialists to reconstruct the past at Pompeii and/or Herculaneum.
Source 4: (photograph of) Conservation at Herculaneum
Source 5:
... reconstruction provides us with means of visualising past environments, allowing us a glimpse of the past that might otherwise be difficult to appreciate.
Kate Devlin and Alan Chalmers, University of Bristol
Building collapses in Pompeii
On 6 November 2010 the Schola Armaturarum Iuventutis Pompeianae (III.3.6) collapsed. This building is commonly called the School of the Gladiators or incorrectly the House of the Gladiators (which is V.5.3). Below is a photo of Via dell'Abbondanza in 2008 showing the Schola on the right. Next to it is a media photo after the collapse of the building.
The collapse prompted an analysis of the difficulties faced by the archaeological site: Behind the Collapse of the "House of the Gladiators". (This article is by Frank Sear, Professor of Classics at Melbourne University, who, among other positions, was co-director of the Australian team in the Houses in Pompeii Project from 1978-1988.)
Italian and international contributions and responsibilities
Text pp. 198-199 "A new model in conservation-based archaeology"
Text Chapter 14: “Death, Conservation and Ethical Issues”
The care of Pompeii, and the custodianship of the body responsible for its care, was put in the spotlight at the end of 2010 with the collapse of some buildings in Pompeii.
The body responsible for the Vesuvian sites is the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. A significant project is the Herculaneum Conservation Project.
The Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei
The Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei (or more fully, the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia) is the Italian organisation responsible for the Vesuvian sites. On its website, under Who We Are, it describes itself this way:
The Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Naples and Pompeii (SANP) is a decentralized body of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, vested with special independent status, whose sphere of competence is the preservation, conservation and public utilization of archaeological resources.
It was instituted with Presidential Decree no. 233 of 26th November 2007 and brings together the Archaeological Superintendency of Pompeii, which had previously been granted independent scientific, organizational and financial autonomy through Law no. 352 art. 9 of 8th October 1997, and the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Caserta.
The territorial scope of its competence currently encompasses the entire province of Naples and, in addition to Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Vesuvian sites, (www.pompeiisites.org), it also includes the Phlegraean area around the city of Naples, the Naples National Archaeological Museum and the Sorrento coast (http:\\sbanap.campaniabeniculturali.it).
The 2010 building collapses coincided with a short-lived initiative called PompeiViva (Pompeii Lives), which aimed to attract more visitors and to provide an “experience” for the visitor. Some of the events and experiences were: performances in the Large Theatre with the seating concreted over to accommodate the audience; A tour through the House of Julius Polybius which included commentary by a hologram of Julius himself; and what was called the “Site-event of the Casti Amanti”, in which a metal walkway was erected through the restored House of the Chaste Lovers for tourists to look at the house and observe archaeologists at work (see Figure 14.19 p.216). PompeiViva collapsed in 2011 with allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The website (below) no longer exists.
The building collapses highlighted the neglect the site was suffering beneath the facade of the PompeiViva exhibits.
The Great Pompeii Project
The Great Pompeii Project is referred to on p.213 of your text.
It came about following major criticism of the site management following the building collapses in 2010.
Go to the Soprintendenza's website (make sure you click the "English" link - a meno che non possa leggere l'italiano).
Click on the Pompeii Projects link. You will find links to the following:
Pompeii bakeries project
Pompeii necropolis project
the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia
the EU Pompeii Project (Great Pompeii Project)
Make some notes on the conservation work of the Soprintendenza. Include some assessment of its success over the years.
A lecture by the superintendent of Pompeii and Naples, Massimo Osanna, delivered at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World (Brown University, Rhode Island, USA) on 9 November 2016. The lecture is titled: "The Great Pompeii Project: New Life for the Dead City".
As part of the Great Pompeii Project the Antiquarium of Pompeii reopens after being closed for 36 years.
Here is a link to a newspaper article from "The Guardian", 20 April 2016, reporting the latest news on the sad state of Pompeii:
Pompeii: is this the best they can do with €105m?
Pompeii 2016 - barriers along Via dell'Abbondanza Pompeii 2016 - street blocked to tourists
The Herculaneum Conservation Project
One of the important roles of the Soprintendenza is to coordinate international projects of research and/or conservation. One of the most high-profile of these is the Herculaneum Conservation Project.
Go to the HCP website and make some notes on the aims and objectives of the project and some examples of its conservation work.
Since 2001 the Herculaneum Conservation Project, a collaboration between the Packard Humanities Institute and the Soprintendenza, supported by the British School at Rome, has sought to address some of the most pressing threats to the survival of the site. The focus has been on infrastructural problems – roofing and drains. It has also sought by scientific experiment to analyse the critical conservation risks and to develop better approaches to solving or reducing them. It has stressed the importance of regular maintenance with the development of sustainable programmes for the future. In the course of work, it has made many new archaeological discoveries, and cast new light on the history of the site. It tries to involve the local community closely in its activities, has undertaken joint projects with the town council, and helped set up the Herculaneum Centre.
The project, under the guidance of Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, began in 2001. I can't find a record of when it finished but it is listed on the British School at Rome's website as a completed project.
Make some notes on the conservation work of the Herculaneum Conservation Project. Include some assessment of its success over the years.
Restoration work - Decumanus Maximus - 2008
ABC Radio National: Artworks - "This past European summer Julie Copeland travelled to the site of Herculaneum for Artworks, where she was shown around by the director, Andrew Wallace Hadrill."
Impact of tourism
Pompeii and Herculaneum depend on tourism for survival. To what extent does the need to drive tourist numbers affect the way Pompeii is presented to the public? In the early 19th Century, when wealthy tourists on the Grand European Tour would visit Pompeii, they were often treated to a display of specially arranged skeletal remains. For a particularly honoured guest, a recently excavated house may have been backfilled so the guest could participate in the "excavation". This was archaeology as a theme-park attraction. Does this still happen today? Does a place so rich in historical remains require sideshow elements to attract or entertain visitors? The answer seems to be 'yes'.
Some examples:
Pink Floyd
In 1971, the rock group Pink Floyd performed a closed concert in the Pompeii amphitheatre which was filmed and sold as: "Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii". In July 2016, Pink Floyd singer David Gilmour returned for a concert in the same venue. To commemorate the concerts, the Soprintendenza has curated a display of photographs of the 1971 concert, on display in the gladiator passageways under the amphitheatre.
David Gilmour Returns to Pompeii With Refigured Pink Floyd Classics
Live at Pompeii, underground (photographic display)
Mito e Natura dalla Grecia a Pompei
Myth and Nature: from Greece to Pompeii. An exhibition curated by the Soprintendenza was held in a wooden pyramid constructed in the Pompeii amphitheatre. The exhibition ran from 16 March to 15 June 2016. While many of the objects in the exhibit related to Pompeii, the pyramid detracted from the amphitheatre and the visitor's ability to take in its scope and use.
Sculptures on display in Pompeii
Sculptures by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj, were on display throughout Pompeii during 2016 until 8 January 2017. While being beautiful and striking, they don't have much to do with Pompeii.
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