Excavation Periods
18th Century
Pompeii was discovered by accident in the early 18th century when some workmen came across Pompeian artwork while digging a canal.
In 1709, Prince D’Elboeuf came across Herculaneum while making foundations for his new villa.
Starting from 1711, there were excavations for five years during which statues, columns and carved marble were uncovered. Herculaneum was also being worked on at this time but was much more difficult to do so because of the town of Resina which lay directly on top of Herculaneum; landowners protested at the very suggestion of their property being dug up.
It was not until 1748 when Rocco Gioacchino de Alcubierre re-found the dug up evidence of the lost cities and finally started excavating. At first, he thought he had found the town of Stabiae and Pompeii was not recognised until 1763 when they found an inscription saying, “State of the Pompeians.”
In 1709, Prince D’Elboeuf came across Herculaneum while making foundations for his new villa.
Starting from 1711, there were excavations for five years during which statues, columns and carved marble were uncovered. Herculaneum was also being worked on at this time but was much more difficult to do so because of the town of Resina which lay directly on top of Herculaneum; landowners protested at the very suggestion of their property being dug up.
It was not until 1748 when Rocco Gioacchino de Alcubierre re-found the dug up evidence of the lost cities and finally started excavating. At first, he thought he had found the town of Stabiae and Pompeii was not recognised until 1763 when they found an inscription saying, “State of the Pompeians.”
In 1753, another amazing discovery occurred when archaeologists found the villa's library which contained over 1000 carbonised papyrus scrolls which contained mostly philosophical works.
Over the next 20 years, several more areas of Pompeii were unearthed including the Temple of Isis and the Theatre. Unfortunately, valuable archaeological evidence was compromised due to movable objects being taken for private collections, museums and wealthy families.
Over the next 20 years, several more areas of Pompeii were unearthed including the Temple of Isis and the Theatre. Unfortunately, valuable archaeological evidence was compromised due to movable objects being taken for private collections, museums and wealthy families.
Excavating hadn't been very organised either, so it is a relief to historians to know that in 1778 a man named Francesco La Vega, who had previous experience with Herculaneum, finally drew up the first plan of the Pompeii excavation site.
19th Century
From 1808 to 1815 Francois Mazois, husband of Queen Caroline Bonaparte, supervised a large excavation team of about 1500 men. Work decreased a lot when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated but the excavators still found wonderful new evidence such as some major houses including the House of the Faun (1829) and the House of the Painted Capitals (1832) which was featured in many paintings in the 19th century.
Pompeii had started to interest the world and, so, had become a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the ancient city had caught the eye of thieves and looters too; much evidence was stolen - paintings were cut from walls, mosaics lifted from floors, and other moveable objects like statues, columns, vases and coins suddenly appeared in museums, kings’ collections and other wealthy individuals. Most of these things were taken without their whereabouts of being found recorded and so much more precious information was lost.
Luckily, in 1860, Giuseppe Fiorelli stepped into the role of leader of the excavations; he was known as a pioneer of modern archaeological methods and was the first to work in logical, systematic ways.
Pompeii had started to interest the world and, so, had become a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the ancient city had caught the eye of thieves and looters too; much evidence was stolen - paintings were cut from walls, mosaics lifted from floors, and other moveable objects like statues, columns, vases and coins suddenly appeared in museums, kings’ collections and other wealthy individuals. Most of these things were taken without their whereabouts of being found recorded and so much more precious information was lost.
Luckily, in 1860, Giuseppe Fiorelli stepped into the role of leader of the excavations; he was known as a pioneer of modern archaeological methods and was the first to work in logical, systematic ways.
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/9/26893467/557517377.jpg)
He did this by excavating in sections rather than randomly, sweeping row after
row of houses, buildings and structures. Giuseppe Fiorelli was also the first to realize that the strange cavities were the outlines of the Pompeian bodies left behind and their significance, so came up with the idea of pouring plaster into the “moulds”, he let it set and then chipped away remaining hardened ash to reveal the casts that we have today.But Fiorelli didn’t just find bodies, he also used the plaster method animal corpses, furniture, food and much other perishable evidence. After doing this he divided up the city into nine sections which each contained up to twenty-two blocks.
row of houses, buildings and structures. Giuseppe Fiorelli was also the first to realize that the strange cavities were the outlines of the Pompeian bodies left behind and their significance, so came up with the idea of pouring plaster into the “moulds”, he let it set and then chipped away remaining hardened ash to reveal the casts that we have today.But Fiorelli didn’t just find bodies, he also used the plaster method animal corpses, furniture, food and much other perishable evidence. After doing this he divided up the city into nine sections which each contained up to twenty-two blocks.
20th Century
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/9/26893467/664833714.jpg?165)
The 20th century brought curiosity of who the individuals stranded in Pompeii were; bodies were given names due to how they were found and stories about them were theorized with the help of certain evidence around them. For example, a man was found crouching next to his donkey and was so named the Donkey Man. From 1910 to 1913 Vittorio Spinazzola was in charge of excavations and cleared several of Via dell’Abbondanza’s buildings such as the House of Cryptoporticus. He also reconstructed many structures which revealed a typical Pompeian street with private houses, workshops, taverns, and bakeries. All of Spinazzola’s work was photographed, making him the first to use this method of recording progress.
He was replaced by Amedeo Maiuri and carried on with the excavations until WWII broke out and everything was suspended. Unfortunately, due to bombs the site was extensively damaged and inevitably, more evidence was lost. He resumed excavations soon after, however his work is contradicted due to his poor documentation skills.
1977 brought round Fausto Zevi as the new director of excavations but stopped everything on government owned land. He instead focused on documenting and restoring what they had already found. Three years later, archaeologists had a photographic inventory of mosaics and all sorts of art, ending up with about 18,000 photographs. In November 1980, an earthquake shook Pompeii. This earthquake was quite important because it showed everyone just how decayed the Pompeii ruins had become and something obviously had to be done about it. In 1983, Jean-Pierre Adam was asked to come up with ways of keeping structures intact and 36 billion lire was contributed to help with this, however, work was slow to begin and to this day, things are still underway.[1]
1977 brought round Fausto Zevi as the new director of excavations but stopped everything on government owned land. He instead focused on documenting and restoring what they had already found. Three years later, archaeologists had a photographic inventory of mosaics and all sorts of art, ending up with about 18,000 photographs. In November 1980, an earthquake shook Pompeii. This earthquake was quite important because it showed everyone just how decayed the Pompeii ruins had become and something obviously had to be done about it. In 1983, Jean-Pierre Adam was asked to come up with ways of keeping structures intact and 36 billion lire was contributed to help with this, however, work was slow to begin and to this day, things are still underway.[1]
Why are these excavations significant?
The excavations are obviously very important but the cities are significant because thanks to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, we get the chance to experience what life was like back in the first century as everything was petrified by the hardened ash. Also the fact that Herculaneum was a wealthy city and Pompeii was a reasonably poor city, we see the contrast between the lives of the wealthy and the poor which gives us much more insight to how things panned out on the 24th August 79AD. The excavations show us regular household objects to magnificent structures like the Pompeii theatre which show us their ways of life both at home and socially.
REFERENCES
[1] Secrets of vesuvius (book supplied by teacher)
[1] Secrets of vesuvius (book supplied by teacher)