PompeiiA Historical Reconstruction

Hasan Mohammad & Imam Al-Taiff

“It can be very moving handling these remains when we apply the plaster,” said Stefania Giudice, “Even though it happened 2,000 years ago, it could be a boy, a mother or a family. It’s human archaeology, not just archaeology.”

Archaeology of Pompeii 19th & 20th Century Archaeology

From 1860 – 1960, Pompeii archaeology came under the leadership of such men as Giuseppe Fiorelli, Spinazzola and Maiuri. All served to create a more systematic and scientific approach to excavation in Pompeii.

No longer was it acceptable for archaeologists to focus only on precious objects and beautiful paintings (treasure hunting).

Most important discovery – recognition of the significance of cavities in the deposits of hardened ash as impression of the victim’s bodies > process of casting still used today in an updated form.

Fiorelli poured liquid plaster into the body-shape cavities from the ash/pumice of the volcano and left it to set > eventually, he then chipped away the lava to reveal an accurate plaster cast of what had been buried beneath the volcanic material – capturing the moment of death and burial.

Archaeological Methods: Fiorelli

Modern Developments in Casting Archaeologists have looked at other ways of recreating the

appearance of Pompeii’s dead. In 1984 at Oplontis, a skeleton was cast using resin rather than plaster. Wax was injected into the void around the victim’s skeleton, left to harden, and then coated in plaster. Once the ‘plaster cast’ had set, the wax was melted out and replaced with liquid epoxy resin- to produce a durable, transparent cast, which allowed the victim’s jewellery and hairpin to be viewed in situ on the body.

In a 2010 interview with the BBC, Stefania Giudice, a conservator from Naples national archaeological Museum described how modern preservers cast new finds. The process is by no means simple. Plaster has to be mixed to an exact consistency; thick enough to support the skeletal frame but not so thick it obliterates the fine details of the cast. It then needs to be carefully poured.  ‘The bones are very brittle,’ explained Giudice, ‘so when we pour in the plaster we have to be very careful, otherwise we might damage the remains and they would be lost to us forever.’

As a bonus, the visual information from the external features of the casts can now be supplemented by other means. “nowadays we can better adopt X-ray techniques like 3D-CT scan to investigate the human content of plaster casts.” said Pier Paolo Petrone.

Historical Information Artefacts Provide (1)

Pompeii Human Remains: Since 1986 Estelle Lazer worked on a sample

of over 300 individuals – skeletons stored in the female section of the Forum baths.

The techniques of forensic medicine and physical anthropology were used to determine sex, age-at-death, height, health and population affinities of the victims – shedding light on many aspects of Pompeian life. The use of x-ray technology has also been introduced – first used in Australia 1994.

Specifically, used to examine the female skeleton, the Lady of Oplontis. This examination demonstrated the value of this technology – allowing for careful extraction of details and the minimizing of destruction of human remains.

Historical Information Artefacts Provide (2) The Skeletons of Herculaneum

Sara Bisel closely examined the 139 skeletons from the beachfront since 1982. She concluded that:

Low birth rate – believe abortion may have been present .

There was a wide diverse genetic inheritance of this population Evidence for childhood malnutrition and gum disease.

Widespread lead poisoning – due to use of lead in everyday objects eg. Cups.

A very detailed study of 162 skeletons from Herculaneum was published in 2001 by Lugi Capasso > showed that the people of Pompeii were in good health during their bone growth period. The human skeletal remains from Herculaneum are in a much better state of preservation then those of Pompeii because they were more carefully excavated and documented. Recent study has shown that the people died from exposure to extreme heat, rather than asphyxiation. Impact of new technology

Location• Pompeii is located at the base of

Mount Vesuvius on the central west coast of Italy

• The land was called Campania and due to its prime location and natural resources it was a prize to be won.

• The volcanic soil was highly fertile and the Gulf provided resources and easy trade

Historical Evidence for the Modern World About 3/4 of Pompeii's 165 acres have been excavated, and

some 1,150 bodies have been discovered out of an estimated 2,000 thought to have died in the city when it was destroyed. This means that the vast majority of the city of 20,000 fled at the first signs of the volcanic activity. The plaster casts of the men, women, children, and animals of Pompeii were primarily made in the mid 1800s. The building they were originally housed in suffered extensive damage in WWII, and they are now located in several places around the city.

The Garden of the Fugitives holds the largest number of victims found in one place, where thirteen people sought refuge in a fruit orchard. Nine sets of remains were found at the House of Mysteries, where the roof collapsed trapping them inside. One plaster cast can be seen inside the Caupona Pherusa tavern.

The Stabian Thermal baths and the Macellum (fish market) both house two plaster casts, and the Horrea (granary) and Olitorium (market) holds several more, including a pig, and what may be the most famous cast of all, of a small dog in a collar, writhing on its back.

The casts are reportedly no longer made as they destroy the delicate skeletons within.

The Buried City and Ruins Pompeii is well known for the preserved body

castings found among the ruins. The falling ash from the eruption created

castings of bodies both human and animal, garments and other items

The architecture that remains today is an eclectic mix of the conquering empires that ruled Pompeii at various times