Pompeii Superintendent Retires

Thanks to Sarah Court at the HCP and Blogging Pompeii here is some news for students about the new changes in Superintendent in Pompeii. With new Superintendents sometimes come new ideas for management of the site......

The Archaeological Superintendent for Naples and Pompeii, Mariarosaria Salvatore retired at the beginning of the week. No new superintendent has been nominated, and it may be necessary for the Ministry of Culture to organise a public competition to choose one. In the meantime it is being suggested that Giuseppe Proietti (current Superintendent of Rome) will temporarily fill the gap until the end of the month.

More news/speculation in this Italian-language article published in Il Mattino: "Il sovrintendente «Lascio realtà molto difficili». Per la successione a Mariarosaria Salvatore si fa il nome di Proietti"

NOTE: It has been announced that Proietti will hold the temporary position for the next 6 months.

The Getty Villa: Reproduction at its best.

Those students who have studied Herculaneum will know of the Villa of the Papyri. The Villa, rumoured to have been owned by Julius Caesars father in law, overlooked the ocean prior to the eruption of Vesuvius. Today it has only partially been excavated. A large extent of it still sits under the modern town of Ercolano, water table problems are major issues for that part of the archaeological site and past excavations have been shall we say less than ideal for the preservation of the Villa.
J.P Getty recreated the Villa in its ancient glory and opened it to the public in California in the 1970's. He used the original plans, that were quite detailed and drawn by the early archaeologist excavators of the villa, to recreate this beautiful copy. The J.P Getty Villa has only just been recently renovated and re-opened to the public. It not only has the look of the original Roman Villa but also houses a vast array of ancient art treaures many from Pompeii and Herculaneum that it shares with the public.
Below is a recent article from "The Province". Enjoy.



Getty Villa full of artistic treasures
Architecture high above Pacific Ocean transports visitors
By Jamie Portman, Canwest News Service
Photographs by: Robyn Beck/Getty Images, Getty Images


The Getty Villa has reopened to the public later after an eight-year, $275 million USD renovation.
It's a moment fixed in a distant time, yet you're experiencing it on a cliff high above the Pacific Ocean and modern Los Angeles.

You're plunged back to another millennium, experiencing the architectural beauty of a Roman basilica as it was in the first century, A.D.

Its various features, all of them stunning, immediately compete for your attention: a dramatic barrel-vaulted ceiling with intricate scroll decorations inspired by the Roman baths at Pompeii; a patterned floor recreated from ancient marble -- white, yellow, purple -- and green Egyptian granite; a further orgy of marble -- black, yellow, red, white -- in the Corinthian capitals which top the eight graceful pillars which line each side of this opulent interior.

There's plenty more to notice in this single space, from the delicate onyx panelling which lines the narrow side aisles to the remarkable alabaster windows which bathe the ancient statues of gods and goddesses in a soft light. But the Basilica is only one astonishment amid many.

A visit to the Getty Villa, which reopened in 2006 following a $275 million restoration and expansion, throws up surprises at every turn. The eye-filling Basilica is typical of the spaces that invite you to linger indefinitely. But perhaps the beating heart of the Villa is to be found in the Temple of Herakles which you approach through a modest vestibule. Once you arrive, your senses are immediately assaulted by the colourful marble floor with its alternating triangles, but your attention is ultimately drawn towards the niche at the far end and a and a striking 850-pound marble statue of a nude Hercules, one hand wielding the club with which he slew the Nubian lion, the other clutching the pelt of his quarry.

The statue was unearthed during 18th century excavations near Pompeii and fell into the hands of Britain's Lansdowne family. Oil billionaire J. Paul Getty purchased it from the Marquis of Lansdowne in 1951, and considered it the most important work of art in his collection -- one which he wished to share with the world.

The Getty Villa is a free attraction, one which draws visitors from tens of thousands of kilometres away. The only outlay required from you is an $8 parking charge, and even that can be waived if you decide to take public transit instead. Once inside, you're plunged into a treasure house of recreated architecture and landscaping which provide a striking setting for more than 1,200 priceless antiquities.




Getty viewed his art collection as a public trust. In 1954, he opened the J. Paul Getty Museum in the ranch house of his 64-acre Malibu estate to showcase a portion of that collection which included Greek and Roman antiquities, 18th century furniture, and European paintings. Four years later, he decided to indulge his obsession with ancient Mediterranean culture by building a Roman-style villa, inspired by the Villa dei Papiri, a luxurious country house buried by the Vesuvius eruption in A.D. 79 and not excavated until the 18th century. This new home for his art opened in 1974 and became a California cultural landmark.

Getty died at the age of 81 in 1976 without every having visited his remarkable creation. But his legacy continued to transform the cultural landscape of a state he loved. He left the museum four million shares of Getty Oil stock, which at the time was worth $700 million, and this led to the decision by the J. Paul Getty Trust to broaden public access to its astonishing holdings by building another museum -- known today as the Getty Center -- as the centrepiece of a 750-acre site in the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking West Los Angeles. When the new Getty Center opened in 1997, its four pavilions featured all the public Getty collections except for the antiquities. The latter would be reserved for a reborn Villa which the trustees envisaged as something unique -- the Western Hemisphere's only museum devoted to Greek, Roman and Etruscan art.

The Getty Center remains a glorious place in its own right, but it's the newly restored Villa which immerses the visitor in the ancient world.

Some critics continue to carp that it constitutes a Disneyfication of museum culture, but Villa administrators have been scrupulous in emphasizing what is authentic and what has been recreated.

For example, the outdoor statues are impeccable copies, but the 23 indoor galleries are restricted to the real thing. Those galleries, devoted to the Getty Trust's priceless permanent collection, are dramatically organized by themes -- including Gods and Goddesses, Monsters, Minor Deities, Women and Children in Antiquity, Athletics, Griffins and Sagas of the Trojan War. Their impact is powerful.

But really, the Villa starts making an impact as soon as you drive through the gates and find yourself moving over flagstones reminiscent of the Roman Empire.

Then, once you park and pass through the entrance pavilion, you're on an ascending museum path which offers tantalizing glimpses down below of an imposing artifact rising out of what appears to be an excavation site.

Then, suddenly and dramatically, you're on a balcony overlooking a magnificent 450-seat reproduction of an outdoor Roman theatre -- where TV star Tyne Daly is appearing this month in a rare staging of Aeschylus's Agamemnon -- and the main entrance to the museum and its pools and gardens. Among the heady delights of the building are its atrium, with its open ceiling and black-and-white mosaic floor; the Inner and Outer Peristyles with their wandering walkways, awesome vistas, sun-drenched pools, terrazzo colonnades, marble fountains tantalizing plant life and dramatic statuary; the dizzying Room of Coloured Marbles; and, of course, the Basilica and the Temple of Herakles. And everywhere there is easy access to the galleries which are located on two levels.

The four gardens offer their own pleasures in aiming to recreate the natural environment of the ancient Mediterranean. The herb garden, for example offers an ancient Roman kitchen garden alive with fruit trees, flowering shrubs and herbs that were used 2000 years ago for cooking and medicine.

The Getty Villa's mission is straightforward -- to foster the study of the classical world and its relationship to other cultures, to expose a wide audience to great works of art, to promote the conservation of antiquities, to encourage scholarly research. But it is also the warmest and most inviting of attractions.



(The Getty Villa is located in the Greater Los Angeles area, at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, approximately 40 kilometres west of Greater Los Angeles. It is open Thursday to Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, but there is an $8 parking fee. The Villa can also be reached by public transit on Metro Bus 434. An advance ticket is required and may be booked online at www.getty.edu or by phone at 310 440 7300.)

Live Excavations at Pompeii

This news report comes from the Blogging Pompeii blogsite as posted from ANSA.it
Students looking at current projects being undertaken in Pompeii and the role that archaeology plays with both conservation and tourism should take note of the information in this article.

'Live excavation' at Pompeii
Work on House of Chaste Lovers open to public

Visitors to the archaeological site of Pompeii will soon get the chance to observe the complex excavation process involved as it happens.

Excavation and restoration work at the House of the Chaste Lovers, which resumed a few months ago following ten years of neglect, will open to the public from the start of February.
Visitors will be allowed to enter sections of the building and watch archaeologists at work, gaining a deeper understanding of the effort involved in bringing 2,000-year-old remains to light. ''This is a project of immense importance to us,'' said Pompeii's emergency commissioner Marcello Fiori, recalling it was a priority on his works programme, approved by the culture ministry in November. ''These 'open-door' excavations will greatly enrich the opportunities provided by Pompeii. ''They will provide visitors with a different kind of experience, in which they have the chance to observe the fascinating work of archaeologists in action, as well as seeing recently unearthed items in situ''. The site will be protected from damage by glass screens. Interior panels will provide visitors with practical information, while technology will offer a virtual reconstruction of the premises as they probably looked prior to their destruction.
Last week, reports appeared in some newspapers that the House of Chaste Lovers had been seriously damaged after a crane collapsed on top of the site but Pompeii Excavations Director Antonio Varone dismissed these claims. Accusing the media of ''alarmism'', he explained that there had been a ''small landslip that caused no significant damage''.
''Heavy rains led to earth movements in the insula (apartment block) next to that of the House of Chaste Lovers,'' he said.
''This caused the collapse of several meters of the boundary wall, which however contained no frescoes''. The House of the Chaste Lovers takes its name from its elaborate interior wall paintings showing lovers during a feast.
The premises were made up of living quarters and a small bakery opening directly on to the street where the public could buy bread. The bakery contained a large oven with millstones, while archaeologists have discovered the remains of mules, used to transport grain, in a stable at the back of the premises opening onto an alleyway.
Experts have already started reconstructing the garden space, using holes left by the reed markers that once surrounded it. The most recent finds include a large cistern, used to provide water to the bakery, and the remains of building materials, which archaeologists believe were being used to repair damage to the premises caused by a small earthquake not long before Vesuvius erupted. Paint pots, a small furnace, a compass and partially completed wall sketches indicate that the living quarters were also being redecorated at the time of the eruption. ''All this shows again how Pompeian society was lively and active at the time of the disaster,'' concluded Varone.

Pre Field Update 2010

G'day everyone and Happy New Year
2010 promises to be a big year for me and the blogsite.
I have been continuing to post news and information about the Vesuvian cities, and other Ancient History topics that are related to your HSC studies. Where possible I provide suggestions for further research, activities or resources that will be useful for you.
2009 ended with the completion with my BA in Archaeology and Ancient History at Macquarie University and as those who follow this blogsite would be well aware that I spent my first field season as a volunteer archaeological team member in Pompeii with the Pompeii Food and Drink Project. I learned so much from the 3 PI's and the PhD and MA students and archaeologists there about the ancient city from the point of view of an archaeologist in the field. It was an amzing experience and one which I am eager to replicate as I again this year become part of the team in the ancient city.
We are still exactly 6 months to the day away from starting work in Pompeii. My flights are done and I look forward to the pre field information as it is sent about this year's work. I am extremely excited that this year will be 3 weeks in the field and now that I am more prepared for the internet situation in Pompeii I am planning to post more from the site than I did last season...including video perhaps. I would like to make this field work time I am spending at the site as interactive as possible for you so please post me emails or comments to the blogsite that I can work on whilst there.
I am also hoping to put together a HSC study conference for students at my local schools later in the year which will include various panels of experts in the field to speak with students and answer questions. I hope to reproduce some of that here.
I look forward to bringing you as much information as I can to assist in your studies this year.

Graffiti on the Walls of Pompeii

Graffiti is an excellent archaeological source of information for those studying Pompeii. A number of excellent publications including Alison Cooley's Pompeii: A Sourcebook will outline in detail much of the Graffiti found on the walls of the ancient city. Those who have had a chance to go to Sydney University's HSC Study Day's over the past couple of years will have also seen Dr. Peter Keegan speak on the topic.

The information that follows comes from the recent Archaeological Institute of America Conference in Anaheim California (January 2010)

Graffiti on the walls in Pompeii
News from the Archaeological Institute of America's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
By Bruce Bower
January 30th, 2010; Vol.177 #3 (p. 14)


ANAHEIM, Calif. — Well-off homeowners living in the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2,000 years ago could read the writing on their own walls, and apparently didn’t mind the spontaneous scrawling. Citizens of Pompeii scratched out graffiti on the walls of private residences to share creative greetings, welcomes and salutations to friends, Rebecca Benefiel of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., reported on January 8.

Many elite Pompeii dwellings bear dozens of graffiti messages on their walls, Benefiel notes. She studied 41 examples of written graffiti spread across two stories of one such house. Most graffiti appeared on walls in well-traveled areas, such as an entrance area and near stairways. Different people wrote messages back-and-forth to one another on the walls, sometimes in the form of poetry, Benefiel says. Graffiti writers intended to have their product read by an audience, she suggests.

Graffiti in the Pompeii house are generally small and unobtrusive. “Defacement did not motivate those who wrote on these walls,” Benefiel says. She also identified 12 instances of graffiti images in the ancient house. These drawings portrayed boats, animals, a palm frond and a man. A few areas contained graffiti consisting of a series of Roman numerals that were possibly used in number games, in Benefiel’s view

How are the needs of tourists catered for in Pompeii

It's been no secret that tourism was dealt a blow in Pompeii with the shutting of the only ammenties building within the walls of the ancient city of Pompeii more than 2 years ago. Problems with the local mafia and tendering processes left tourists without toilets and food within the site.
Today, a report on the ammenities recently opened from the view of a construction company providing the doors for the new Cafeteria.


Ditec automatic doors in the excavations of Pompeii

Boasting over 2 millions visitors a year, the archaeological site of Pompeii is the second most visited archaeological site in the world and has been selected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Pompeii represents one of the most significant examples of Roman civilization and is like an exceptional open book on artworks, habits, trades and daily life of past civilizations. The city resurfaced after centuries of darkness exactly as it was, when it was suddenly covered by a thick layer of ashes and lava during the devastating eruption of mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

In this astounding setting, inside the excavations overlooking the "Casa Bacco", right in the heart of the ancient city, a new cafeteria run by Autogrill Spa has been opened. To make it easier for the large flow of tourists to visit this exceptional artistic and cultural heritage, the restaurant has been fitted with the most modern and technologically advanced Ditec automatic doors: the new VALOR model.

Australians in Pompeii

The following article comes out of the University of Queensland. HSC students should note that a number of Australian archaeologists are a part of International teams working in the Vesuvian cities. The contribution of International teams has been invaluable to both the study of Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as pumping research and conservation funds into the ancient sites. Remember also that there is very little actual excavation currently happening in Pompeii.

After reading this article, using your internet resources, look up the contributions of other Australians in the field including Dr's Steven Ellis, Estelle Lazer and Jaye McKenzie- Clarke.


UQ archaeology digs into the life behind Pompeii

Brisbane may be 2000 years and half-a-world away from Pompeii, but it hasn't stopped a UQ archaeologist from digging up some hidden treasures.

Dr Andy Fairbairn, a senior lecturer in archaeology with UQ's School of Social Science, is working on a project looking at the life inside one of the world's most famous dig sites.

“The archaeology at Pompeii has moved on over the last 30 years, away from the big ticket items of the temples and the like to the minutiae of what everyday life was like in the ancient Roman city,” Dr Fairbairn said.

He does this by collecting samples from what would have been the toilets of the day to see the types of food were eaten.

“This type of archaeology is a bit slower than unearthing buildings, but it is very valuable as it allows us to piece together a picture of the economic and social development of the city,” he said.

“Even if we have to go through 2000 year old excrement to do it.”

He said his team of volunteer archaeology students patiently go through hundreds of bags of samples collected in Pompeii, looking for seeds and other plant material to build up a picture of what was being eaten and traded.

“Samples come from an excavation near one of the main entrances to the city led by Australian ex-pat Dr Steven Ellis (Cincinnati, USA), on the way to the theatre and gladiators,” he said.

“And what the excavation is showing so far is that the city was moving away from the production of goods in dispersed cottage industries to more specialised industrial production and trading,” he said.

Dr Fairbairn said while it may seem strange to have an Australian archaeology team working on ancient Roman sites, UQ's reputation in the field was strong, especially in archaeological science.

“Across UQ we have a very strong archaeology group doing work all over the world, including Turkey, India, Africa, Hawaii and Central America” he said.

“Due to the profession being quite small in Australia, we often specialise in a particular area and then collaborate with other groups around the world as appropriate.”

(Taken from the University Of Queensland News webpage 25/11/09)