Parte 2: The Great Pompeii Project

Posted on January 31, 2019 by babbityjean

It is considered one of the most ambitious archaeological projects in history.  The goal of the Great Pompeii Project is to transform a site in grave disrepair into a peerless showcase by 2018 and beyond…and to construct a detailed, multi-faceted, almost photographic portrait of Roman Italy.  In 2012 the site’s authorities received an emergency grant of 75 million euros (then about $100 million) from the European Union and another 30 million euros ($40 million) from the Italian government. Professor Massimo Osanna, a visionary archaeologist, was appointed Superintendent in 2014.  He is employing an approach called “global archaeology,” which enlists an extensive interdisciplinary team of scientific, scholarly, and practical skills in the study of ancient sites.

Whereas only about 3 archaeologists had been working on Pompeii in the past, now there are more than 200 experts at work, including 12 architects and 12 archaeologists.  The team also includes bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, photographers, dentists, anthropologists, radiologists, biologists, geologists, mapping technicians, computer scientists, medical engineers, hydro-engineers, and experts in art restoration.

Together they are restoring and analyzing the pioneering work of Giuseppe Fiorelli, a 19thcentury superintendent of Pompeii, who injected plaster into the blocks of ash that encased the dead, yielding evocative casts of their corpses.  Today they use a resin instead of plaster because it is more durable and does not destroy the bones, allowing further analysis. The experts today are using advanced technology to compile precise genetic profiles of the victims—not only gender and age, but also where they were born and what occupations they held. They are studying food remnants for clues on eating habits, and they are studying restored houses and frescoes to piece together the daily lives of inhabitants.  And they are collating medical findings with other data to construct a census of the vanished community.

What is emerging is an extraordinary portrait of the city and its citizens, which combines new discoveries with evidence that confirms former theories.  Like New York and other modern cities, first-century Pompeii was a very dynamic community of multicultural neighborhoods and people speaking multiple languages.  Osanna also says that lists of names have been found, and “many are recognizably those of liberti,” who are freed slaves with origins all across the Roman empire—Greece, North Africa, even Celtic Gaul.   Pompeii was an affluent community of Roman citizens, naturalized foreigners and freedmen who became movers and shakers in international trade.

Pompeii could be a mirror of our own times in other ways as well.  Their diets were similar to California today with staples of whole grains, including wheats, oats, and barley, accompanied by chickpeas, fruits, and nuts, accented by spices and delicacies imported from far-flung areas such as Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.  Yet the locals often lunched at “fast-food” restaurants in shops called thermopolia,”which had stone counters fitted with sunken terracotta vessels that contained pre-cooked meals.

The analysis continues and will yield more incredible findings.  In the meantime, the Great Pompeii Project is also shoring up eroded facades and installing draining pipes throughout the site.  Perimeter lighting and video surveillance has been installed throughout, as has wifi coverage.  Exhibitions and events are now being held on site, and external accommodations have improved for the comfort of visitors.

Next time: Discoveries in 2018

Posted in Abitudini, Architecture, Arte, Campania, Cucina italiana, English, Foto, Italia, La Gente, Napoli, Pompei, Storia | 3 Comments

Parte 1: Pompei e un’eredità di disastri

Posted on January 24, 2019 by babbityjean

Questo è il primo post in una serie di tre parti su Pompei

L’eruzione del Monte Vesuvio nel 79 d.C. è probabilmente il disastro più noto del tempo. L’antica città romana di Pompei, Ercolano e l’area circostante, furono sepolte sotto 4 a 6 metri di cenere e pomice vulcanica.  La maggior parte degli 11.000 abitanti, se non tutti, di questa regione del Golfo di Napoli, furono sepolti.

Da lontano, Plinio il Giovane era l’unico testimone superstite dell’eruzione. Descrisse una scena apocalittica in cui il sole filtrava dalla coltre nebbiosa come una lampada e “si sentivano le urla di donne, i lamenti dei bambini, e le grida degli uomini”. Scrisse di suo zio Plinio il Vecchio, un ammiraglio romano, che morì nel tentativo di salvare i cittadini di Pompei.

Quelli che si trovano vicini all’esplosione morirono curvati nella stessa posizione in cui gli archeologi li trovarono secoli dopo.  Gli oggetti sepolti a Pompei erano ben conservati per quasi 2 millenni grazie alla mancanza di aria ed umidità.  Una volta iniziati gli scavi nel XVIII secolo, il sito forniva una grande quantità di informazioni sulla vita quotidiana di questi romani. Tuttavia, una volta esposta, Pompei fu soggetta a disastri naturali e quelli provocati dall’uomo, che hanno aumentato il deterioramento.

Dalla metà del XIX secolo, 4 grandi terremoti scossero il Golfo di Napoli.  I bombardamenti alleati nel 1943 paralizzarono edifici importanti.  I cattivi metodi di scavo e ricostruzione, in particolare da parte di imprese controllate dalla criminalità organizzata, causarono più danni delle bombe. L’erosione e le inondazioni distrussero le fondamenta.  I tagli al budget e le crisi economiche seriamente ritardavano le riparazioni e i restauri.

Il vandalismo e il furto hanno danneggiato alcuni dei tesori di Pompei.  Infatti, nel 2018 la squadra d’élite italiana di carabinieri incaricata a proteggere il patrimonio culturale del paese, ha condotto un’incursione in un magazzino a Ginevra in Svizzera.  Ha recuperato frammenti di affreschi di Pompei che erano stati staccati dalle pareti probabilmente negli anni ’90.

Alla fine del 2010, quando “La Casa dei Gladiatori” è improvvisamente crollata, solo il 13% degli ettari scavati del sito erano accessibili ai visitatori.  Da 64 edifici aperti al pubblico nel 1956, il numero era stato ridotto a 10.  “Pompei ha affrontato una crisi acuta ad ogni livello”, afferma il professor Massimo Osanno, un archeologo nominato Sovrintendente degli Scavi nel 2014.  “Niente di meno di una ristrutturazione e una riorganizzazione totali potrebbero cambiare le cose”.

Come forse il più importante sito archeologico del mondo, Pompei era troppo importante per essere abbandonata. Nonostante anni di abusi e di abbandoni, è ancora il quinto sito archeologico più visitato al mondo (superato solo dal Great Wall e dall’esercito di terracotta di Xian in Cina, dal Colosseo e dal Foro di Roma). Attrae quasi 3 milioni di visitatori all’anno. È un sito patrimonio mondiale dell’UNESCO. Eppure nel 2013 l’UNESCO ha dichiarato che se il restauro non riuscisse a compiere progressi significativi, Pompei sarebbe stata inserita nella lista del Patrimonio Mondiale in Pericolo.

Qualcosa doveva essere fatto.

Posted in Architecture, Arte, Campania, Cucina italiana, Foto, Italia, Italiano, La Gente, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Part 1: Pompeii and a Legacy of Disasters

Posted on January 24, 2019 by babbityjean

 The next 3 posts will focus on Pompeii, one of the world’s foremost archaeological sites.  Today’s post describes the serious deterioration of the area in recent decades. Next week’s post will explain the Great Pompeii Project and what is being discovered about Roman life at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, and the final post will describe specific discoveries unearthed in 2018.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. is probably the best-known natural disaster of all time. The ancient Roman city of Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and surrounding areas, was buried under 13 to 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice.  Most, if not all, of the 11,000 inhabitants in this region of the Bay of Naples, were entombed.

From a distance, Pliny the Younger provided the only surviving witness account of the eruption. He described an apocalyptic scene in which the sun went out “like a lamp” and “you could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men.”  He wrote of his uncle Pliny the Elder, a Roman admiral, who died trying to rescue the citizens of Pompeii.

People close to the blast died hunched in the same positions in which excavators found them centuries later. Objects buried in Pompeii were well preserved for nearly 2 millennia because of the lack of air and moisture. Once organized excavations began in the 18thcentury, the site provided a wealth of material on the daily lives of these Romans.  However, once exposed, Pompeii has been subject to both natural and man-made disasters, which have caused extensive deterioration.

Since the mid 19thcentury, 4 major earthquakes rocked the Bay of Naples.  Allied bombings in 1943 crippled important buildings. Poor methods of excavation and reconstruction, particularly from firms controlled by organized crime, wreaked more damage than the bombs.  Erosion and flooding ate away at the foundations.  Budget cuts and economic meltdowns derailed repairs and restorations.

Vandalism and theft have taken a serious toll on the treasures of Pompeii.  Illegal tunnels were dug to remove precious art and artifacts. In fact, in 2018, Italy’s elite squad of carabinieri assigned to protect the country’s cultural heritage, conducted a raid on a warehouse in Geneva, Switzerland.  They recovered fragments of Pompeii frescoes that had been chipped off walls probably in the 1990s.

By the end of 2010, when the “House of the Gladiators” suddenly collapsed, only 13% of the site’s excavated acres were accessible to visitors.  From 64 buildings open to the public in 1956, the number had been reduced to 10.  “Pompeii faced acute crises on every level,” says Professor Massimo Osanna, an archaeologist who was appointed Superintendent of Excavations in 2014. “Nothing less than a total restructuring and reorganization could turn things around.”

As perhaps the most important archaeological site in the world, Pompeii was too important to be abandoned.  Despite years of abuse and neglect, it is still the fifth most visited ancient site on earth (exceeded only by the Great Wall and Xian’s terracotta army in China, and by the Coliseum and Forum in Rome).  It attracts nearly 3 million visitors a year.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Yet in 2013 UNESCO declared that if restoration and preservation projects failed to make significant progress in 2 years, Pompeii would be placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Something had to be done.

Posted in Architecture, Arte, Campania, English, Foto, Italia, La Gente, Mafia, Napoli, Pompei, Storia | Leave a comment