Excavations:
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The first discovery occurred in late 1710 when a local peasant began digging a well for his garden and discovered the remains of an ancient building, an inscription was found later reading ' HERVLANENSES' or Herculaneum. In 1738, just over 30 years after the initial discovery, King Charles III, King of Naples, commissioned Rocque Joaquin de Alcuberre to take over the excavation Project, funding it with the State Treasury. Although Rocque had little man power, he soon uncovered the theatre, murals and various different buildings and other treasures. Over the next ten years, Kind Charles III's collection of discoveries grew larger until came a point where new interesting findings were becoming rarer.
In 1748, Rocque presented the King with a small Greek statue which he and his men had found near Stabiae, a place which had never been excavated. After investigating, they soon found that the site was in fact, the City of Pompeii. With hopes of finding new treasures they continued to pillage and excavate. After the first few days, Rocque discovered the first victims of the disaster, buried under as much as three meters of pumice and ash. At first only the skeletal remains were found near the outskirts, giving the notion that the city had been properly evacuated. Later on they soon discovered empty voids in the hardened rock containing human skeletons.
This alerted Archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli into the notion of filling the cavities with plaster in 1848. This process unveiled plaster casts of Pompeiinians at their moment of death, vivid in the details of their clothes and facial expression. This part of the excavation process was incredibly significant as in gave archaeologists further insight of what the people of Pompeii did in their final hours and the differences in actions of social classes.
Giuseppe Fiorelli was appointed Professor of Archaeology an Naples and took control over the excavations. This was a turning point in the excavation process of Pompeii as views of what the site could provide changed from treasure hunting to the hunt for knowledge. He began moving mounds of earth and rock that littered the site and cleared the streets. This way, people were able to see the layout of the city itself. He then numbered every street and house so that objects found could be later identified with the particular building it was found it. He also kept a detailed record of the excavation process which included where a certain object was found, its position and depth as well as a brief conclusion or guess as to why it was placed/found there. A main difference toward Fiorelli's method of excavation and all those before him was his respect for this archaeological gold mine. He insisted of placing everything found back to its original position after investigation. This is extremely different than the past where treasure hunters would take anything they found, even prising mosaics off the walls and ripping them out of the ground.
In 1982, the skeletons of over three hundred victims were found in the boat houses, seeking shelter from the eruption. Though they might have been protected from the rainfall of ash and pumice, the toxic gases and high temperatures of the pyroclastic flow killed them instantly. These remains provided vast amounts of knew knowledge about their actions in their last moments, as well as an insight in to each victims occupation, age, height and in some cases, even medical conditions a person was suffering from prior to the eruptions.
Further excavation led to the discoveries of many buildings, and astonishing pieces of ancient architecture for example House of the Faun, the Amphitheatre, the Bath Hours and many more. Other discoveries also include statues, Papyrus Scrolls, mosaics and frescoes which had been preserved for thousands of years, and are still -mostly- intact.
Excavations continue to this day with much more to be discovered about Pompeii and information about Ancient Roman life. The methods of excavation have changed drastically throughout the hundreds of years excavating Pompeii. The first change was the reason of discovery as Charles III of Naples began the excavation as a way to create his own collection of treasures, hiding them from the world for his own needs. Soon, those views changed as the excavation Processes led to the creation of Archaeological Science, where it was used as a window through time to what it was like to live in Ancient Roman Times.
A major development in Archaeological technology was the invention of Carbon Base dating. with this new technology, scientists and archaeologists are able to figure out how old something is, including the victims of Pompeii, buildings and even make an approximate date of the eruption.
In 1748, Rocque presented the King with a small Greek statue which he and his men had found near Stabiae, a place which had never been excavated. After investigating, they soon found that the site was in fact, the City of Pompeii. With hopes of finding new treasures they continued to pillage and excavate. After the first few days, Rocque discovered the first victims of the disaster, buried under as much as three meters of pumice and ash. At first only the skeletal remains were found near the outskirts, giving the notion that the city had been properly evacuated. Later on they soon discovered empty voids in the hardened rock containing human skeletons.
This alerted Archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli into the notion of filling the cavities with plaster in 1848. This process unveiled plaster casts of Pompeiinians at their moment of death, vivid in the details of their clothes and facial expression. This part of the excavation process was incredibly significant as in gave archaeologists further insight of what the people of Pompeii did in their final hours and the differences in actions of social classes.
Giuseppe Fiorelli was appointed Professor of Archaeology an Naples and took control over the excavations. This was a turning point in the excavation process of Pompeii as views of what the site could provide changed from treasure hunting to the hunt for knowledge. He began moving mounds of earth and rock that littered the site and cleared the streets. This way, people were able to see the layout of the city itself. He then numbered every street and house so that objects found could be later identified with the particular building it was found it. He also kept a detailed record of the excavation process which included where a certain object was found, its position and depth as well as a brief conclusion or guess as to why it was placed/found there. A main difference toward Fiorelli's method of excavation and all those before him was his respect for this archaeological gold mine. He insisted of placing everything found back to its original position after investigation. This is extremely different than the past where treasure hunters would take anything they found, even prising mosaics off the walls and ripping them out of the ground.
In 1982, the skeletons of over three hundred victims were found in the boat houses, seeking shelter from the eruption. Though they might have been protected from the rainfall of ash and pumice, the toxic gases and high temperatures of the pyroclastic flow killed them instantly. These remains provided vast amounts of knew knowledge about their actions in their last moments, as well as an insight in to each victims occupation, age, height and in some cases, even medical conditions a person was suffering from prior to the eruptions.
Further excavation led to the discoveries of many buildings, and astonishing pieces of ancient architecture for example House of the Faun, the Amphitheatre, the Bath Hours and many more. Other discoveries also include statues, Papyrus Scrolls, mosaics and frescoes which had been preserved for thousands of years, and are still -mostly- intact.
Excavations continue to this day with much more to be discovered about Pompeii and information about Ancient Roman life. The methods of excavation have changed drastically throughout the hundreds of years excavating Pompeii. The first change was the reason of discovery as Charles III of Naples began the excavation as a way to create his own collection of treasures, hiding them from the world for his own needs. Soon, those views changed as the excavation Processes led to the creation of Archaeological Science, where it was used as a window through time to what it was like to live in Ancient Roman Times.
A major development in Archaeological technology was the invention of Carbon Base dating. with this new technology, scientists and archaeologists are able to figure out how old something is, including the victims of Pompeii, buildings and even make an approximate date of the eruption.