Archeology

 __**Overview**__       The archeology of Pompeii is an extensive process that has been going on since 1748, when an ancient site called ‘Citiva’ was discovered. Pompeii was a wealthy Roman city that was tragically buried by the eruption of the volcano that sits near by, Mount Vesuvius. The archeology of Pompeii began as an easy process, as the debris it was buried under, including pumice, volcanic ash, and a layer of earth, was not very compacted. However, the archeological methods back in the 1700’s were not very advanced and therefore they handled the artifacts very poorly.          ** __First Phase __ ** <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">    <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">The first phase of the excavation of Pompeii was mainly to find objects of art throughout the city. This excavation was carried out to find suitable pieces of art for the private collection of King Charles III. Many wall paintings were stripped from their places on the wall and put in frames and shipped to Naples. However, many other artifacts and paintings were damaged or destroyed beyond repair. These “early archeologists” did not stop with vandalizing art though; they even had entire buildings filled in. Many famous scholars protested against this process of destruction, and it was finally ended, but the wall stripping was continued. By the end of the 18th century, two wide areas of Pompeii had been uncovered. After this long period of seemingly only destruction, the French took over the project of excavating the city of Pompeii. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">    **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">French Control __ **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">The French took control of Naples in 1806 and made two major changes to the way that excavations were carried out. The first thing they did was make things more organized. They also made an itinerary that kept that record of the visits of scholars and important personages. The French wanted to excavate Pompeii in an orderly fashion, starting in the west and ending in the east. They uncovered many buildings in Pompeii, including the Forum. They employed many workers and sometimes had as many as 1500 people working on the site. However, King Ferdinand I returned to Naples, and the funding for this project was greatly reduced. By 1860, much of western Pompeii had been uncovered. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">   **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">1863-1923 __ **  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">    <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">In 1863, Giuseppe Fiorelli, a famous archeologist for his time, introduced an entirely new way of excavating the city. Instead of the old way of uncovering the streets first and the working their way up, his idea was to uncover the buildings first and work their way down. This idea was a much better way of preserving what was discovered. This new way also allowed for data to be collected and buildings to be reconstructed, but sadly, wall paintings were still stripped from their places and shipped to Naples. Fiorelli also divided up Pompeii into regions and he is the one who developed the use of plaster to preserve the bodies of those who had been buried. These bodies were simply just left as holes after being buried in the ash and were then filled with plaster to make the molds of the people. This told archeologists a lot about life in Pompeii, and how many people died. After Fiorelli, came many other scholars’ who made many improvements on the work and excavations of Pompeii. Vittorio Spinazzola for example, reconstructed the balconies, upper floors, and roofs of many buildings along one street. His worked showed how it was possible to understand how these buildings were constructed and how to restore them. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">1924-Modern Day __  ** <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">    <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">    **<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">After Vittorio Spinazzola, Amedeo Maiuri took control of the Pompeii project. Amedeo was known for his controversial methods of archeology. He did not restore buildings well, and used inaccurate methods of recovering. After Maiuri, many other archaeologists made many excavations and restorations of Pompeii. Some of these archeologists, such as Fausto Zevi, had to work to restore the city after an earthquake in 1980. Today, there is about 80% of Pompeii uncovered. A lot of land still remains to be uncovered, but archeologists have made great findings and important discoveries from the past on this site. Today, the biggest threat to Pompeii is the tourists, whose movement throughout the ancient city is a constant danger. Pompeii has managed to stand for over 1000 years and will hopefully stand for a thousand more. ** Information:
 * 1)  Nappo, Salvatore. "Pompeii: It's Discovery and Preservation."   26-Mar-2003 1-7. 2 Dec 2008 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/pompeii_rediscovery_01.shtml>.
 * 2) Moulton, Carroll. "Pompeii."__Ancient Greece and Rome__. 1st ed. 1998.

Images:
 * 1)  Cook, Christian. "Photography: Pompeii."    __ thinctanc __  . The Thinctanc Group. 2 Dec 2008 <http://www.thinctanc.co.uk/photography/pompeii.html>.
 * 2)  Nappo, Salvatore. "Pompeii: It's Discovery and Preservation."    __ Ancient History: Romans __  . BBC. 2 Dec 2008 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/pompeii_rediscovery_01.shtml>.