Excavations
The towns of Pompeii were first excavated in a rather unconventional way as the first excavators were treasure hunters.
It was in 1748 (Secrets of Vesuvius) that the first excavations were undertaken in Pompeii under the Bourbon King Charles III's rule (Pedrazzi, T), but it wasn't until 1763 that the town was identified as Pompeii when an inscription was found that read "res publica Pompeianorum"- state of Pompeians. The town became more interesting as the excavations brought out more valuable and moveable items that weren't catalogued but moved to private collections of wealthy investors and museums. No scientific method was used but most of the removals of artefacts was unauthorised. The first plan of the excavation site was done by Francesco La Vega in 1778 (Secrets of Vesuvius).
The excavations of Pompeii changed dramatically when Giuseppe Fiorelli became head of the excavations of Pompeii, as he stuck to scientific principles of excavations. Fiorelli prohibited and blocked the dismantling of paintings, mosaics, statues, and other items of value. He was the first to work in a systematic way instead of looking randomly and for valuable treasures. He developed a way of going from house to house and street to street, he also divided Pompeii into Regiones and then into Insulae (Regions and Islands), he divided the city into 9 regiones and each region into 22 insulae. Each region was given a letter, each insulae was given a number and so was each building, this made it easy to identify a buliding. These numbers and letters are still in use today. In order to preserve the artefacts incase they were stolen he had each item copied. Fiorelli was the first to understand the significance of the cavities in the ash. In order to preserve this unique evidence he made casts of the cavities and chipped away at the ash around the plaster, to reveal the shapes of people and animals in their dying positions.
The 20th century excavations were more directed to finding the identities of the people of Pompeii. In the process many houses and buildings were reconstructed. Excavation techniques improved immensely as they were able to uncover whole buildings intact, whereas before they made plans based on foundations of the buildings. Vittorio Spinazzola worked on the site from 1910 to 1923. In this time on the excavation site he worked on the city centre and the market place. He was also one of the first archaeologist to record the phases of an excavation in the form of photographs.
In 1924 archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri to over the excavations and took on a more stricter control of the site and its treasures. Excavation were put on hold during World War II and the site was extensively damaged during the Allied bombing. Maiuri continued excavations after the war ended and worked hard to uncover 10 insulae over the following ten years. Because of Maiuri's strict control for the protection and conservation his methods were often criticised due to his lack of systematic documentation and inaccurate methodology.
Pompeii and Herculaneum provide us with a lot of insight to what life was like for the Romans in Ancient Rome. Its has provided many artefacts from which we can gain an understanding of what everyday life was like for all occupants of Pompeii- wealthy, poor, men, women, children, and slaves. Though the site provided many great artefacts, it had its limitations, for example the first excavators- treasure hunters who removed valuable items that could have provided more insight to life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, artefacts not visible to the treasure hunters may also have been damaged. Poor restorations and excavations also add to the limitation of what the artefacts can tell us. World War II contributed to the limitations as the bombs may have damaged the artefacts and caused the ground to shift resulting in damaged buildings.
It was in 1748 (Secrets of Vesuvius) that the first excavations were undertaken in Pompeii under the Bourbon King Charles III's rule (Pedrazzi, T), but it wasn't until 1763 that the town was identified as Pompeii when an inscription was found that read "res publica Pompeianorum"- state of Pompeians. The town became more interesting as the excavations brought out more valuable and moveable items that weren't catalogued but moved to private collections of wealthy investors and museums. No scientific method was used but most of the removals of artefacts was unauthorised. The first plan of the excavation site was done by Francesco La Vega in 1778 (Secrets of Vesuvius).
The excavations of Pompeii changed dramatically when Giuseppe Fiorelli became head of the excavations of Pompeii, as he stuck to scientific principles of excavations. Fiorelli prohibited and blocked the dismantling of paintings, mosaics, statues, and other items of value. He was the first to work in a systematic way instead of looking randomly and for valuable treasures. He developed a way of going from house to house and street to street, he also divided Pompeii into Regiones and then into Insulae (Regions and Islands), he divided the city into 9 regiones and each region into 22 insulae. Each region was given a letter, each insulae was given a number and so was each building, this made it easy to identify a buliding. These numbers and letters are still in use today. In order to preserve the artefacts incase they were stolen he had each item copied. Fiorelli was the first to understand the significance of the cavities in the ash. In order to preserve this unique evidence he made casts of the cavities and chipped away at the ash around the plaster, to reveal the shapes of people and animals in their dying positions.
The 20th century excavations were more directed to finding the identities of the people of Pompeii. In the process many houses and buildings were reconstructed. Excavation techniques improved immensely as they were able to uncover whole buildings intact, whereas before they made plans based on foundations of the buildings. Vittorio Spinazzola worked on the site from 1910 to 1923. In this time on the excavation site he worked on the city centre and the market place. He was also one of the first archaeologist to record the phases of an excavation in the form of photographs.
In 1924 archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri to over the excavations and took on a more stricter control of the site and its treasures. Excavation were put on hold during World War II and the site was extensively damaged during the Allied bombing. Maiuri continued excavations after the war ended and worked hard to uncover 10 insulae over the following ten years. Because of Maiuri's strict control for the protection and conservation his methods were often criticised due to his lack of systematic documentation and inaccurate methodology.
Pompeii and Herculaneum provide us with a lot of insight to what life was like for the Romans in Ancient Rome. Its has provided many artefacts from which we can gain an understanding of what everyday life was like for all occupants of Pompeii- wealthy, poor, men, women, children, and slaves. Though the site provided many great artefacts, it had its limitations, for example the first excavators- treasure hunters who removed valuable items that could have provided more insight to life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, artefacts not visible to the treasure hunters may also have been damaged. Poor restorations and excavations also add to the limitation of what the artefacts can tell us. World War II contributed to the limitations as the bombs may have damaged the artefacts and caused the ground to shift resulting in damaged buildings.