another beautiful day in Campania although last night we had a huge downpour. Today only minimal work is happening in the scavi as the team is heading off to Herculaneum. After a meeting with the Herculaneum Conservation Project I will be heading into a few off limits areas including the Theatre, Ancient beachfront, Suburban Baths and a few of the houses. I hope I can bring you pictures of these areas. I will also be blogging some activities based on what you can find in Herculaneum.
Remember Herculaneum is a very different city to Pompeii and in many ways much better preserved. If your HSC question asks you to refer to it then you should. Make sure you know some of its features.
My work this season has been fun so far and exciting. I have been working this week as the team's features photographer using both b&w and colour film. I am also part of a remediation team that is revisiting past areas investigated by the project and filling in gaps. This task actually took me to Reg VI yesterday to look at work done in 2001. I was shocked and sad at the devestation of the area. In 2001 many of these houses and shops were investigated and had locked gates and intact. Many of them were open to the public. Yesterday on revisiting I discovered that many had collapsed and were now rubble. All this in only 8 years. Features such as ovens, restored in 1976, are now rubble again. This highlights the plight of the site with lack of resources to conserve it. 2 workers yesterday were valiantly trying to do just that. Its like putting your finger into a 3 foot hole to stop leaking.
