Figure 1: Pompeii Before the Eruption

Pompeii
Karla Martinez

Karla Martinez
Alan Griffiths
Archeology
22 February 2016
Pompeii
The reason as to why I chose this particular archaeological site is because of a video that
I saw one day of the history channel, and it captured my attention so much because of the way
that the people were preserved waiting for their death to come. The video I mentioned was
Pompeii: The Last Day (Peter Nicholson, 2003). This video made me wonder how this site was
even discovered and how exactly was it that these people didn't leave or in a sense run for safety.
Their deaths where what really interested me, the way that they all died instantly after the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius. One of the interesting facts about the people of Pompeii is that they
lived a very modern lifestyle, with running water, elaborate baths and sewage systems. It's sad to
think that the destruction of this city became its preservation.
The way that Pompeii was discovered is actually quite interesting. Carlo di Borbone
began an excavation in 1748 wanting to increase the size of his Kingdom of the Two Sicilies but
when he excavated he would find artifacts that of what used to be Pompeii. At first not one of
them knew that they had found the city long ago destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. They would dig
here and there all the while finding more artifacts as they went. During the early 18th century
archaeology was just used as a way to get antiques and valuables. The rich saw archaeology as a
means of getting these things and after these sites were excavated and robbed of what they had

the sites/buildings were sometimes destroyed or even buried back up. Then in 1806 Joseph
Bonaparte became king and changed the way that archeology was being done. He provided more
workmen who started using better excavating techniques and weren't demolishing building that
they would find (History of the excavation of Pompeii).
One of the first features was the Temple of Isis, and human remains were also found. The
ash that was produced from Mount Vesuvius was so fine textured that in the cast of some of the
people you could see up to the smallest details. One of the items found was an armband of a
snake. Pompeians saw snakes as a sign of good luck. The ash that came from the volcano
managed to preserve everything from the people that were there to animals. Even a loaf of bread
was preserved.

Figure 2: The gold snake armband that they saw as good luck.

From what was found in the excavation I came to the conclusion that these people were
superstitious because of the woman that was carrying the family silver and medallion of the
moon goddess which for these particular people saw as a good luck symbol (Pompeii: The Last
Day, 2003). Another factor that leads me to believe that these people were superstitions is that
they have a painting of the goddess of fertility and a picture of guard dogs. The picture of the
guard dogs to me indicates that they were terrifying creatures because of the way that they are

portrayed in the mosaic. The dogs look ferocious with teeth sharp as a knife and chained to a
cement wall. It's interesting to see all the items they left behind, for example the walls or as
they'd call them a fresco that has colorful nature paintings. It makes me think that they were a
very kind and giving culture. From the statues that were found I can tell that they were very open
with their sexuality as well. Their statues have the female and male reproductive system showing
and not just that there is also a man or sentar that appears to be having sexual activity with a
goat. Another item that I found interesting is that most if not all of their jewelry is made out of
gold, even the handles of their knives; it could mean that gold was a means of prestige.

Figure 3: Pompeii after the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Looking back at the excavations of Pompeii. I found interesting that during its first
discovery there wasn't much attention to its historical importance. At the time people were only
taking the items that they saw as "valuable". Paintings, vases, jewelry, etc. but what they did not
see as to have much importance was the murals that were there. Buildings that today have so
much historical importance everything in that site was taken for granted for years. No one cared
about what caused the destruction of such a flourishing community. If I had the chance to hop in
a time machine and prevent that from happening I would. One of the first things that I would like
to do would go back to the very first time people discovered Pompeii. Similar to what we see in

movies for example when the main character goes back in time but everything freezes once they
are there. That's what I envision myself doing, putting everything that was taken out of its place,
place those items back into their originating home and then in a way press play. Taking control
over the site I would instruct everyone to not touch anything. The first thing that I would like to
be set up would have to be a grid system so that once all the artifacts are dug out from their
earthly home their context is not lost. Once the context of the artifact is lost that artifact becomes
useless to us. Since this was a time before cameras I would instruct my crew to draw what they
saw, every last detail. But since hypothetically I am going back in time I would just take a
camera with me but that sadly is a convenience that is not around. The drawings alone would
take quite a bit of time but once that is taken care of we can really being to dig in as they say.
Since pictures can't be taken as more and more of the artifacts are found I would like to have
very detailed writings and drawings of the artifacts being uncovered. Knowing that, I've come to
the conclusion that it would in fact take a very long time for all of Pompeii to be uncovered. All
of those artifacts processed and marked in a record book in a way. After recording and marking
some of the artifacts would be when I'd start asking my questions. Why did they have a gold
serpent in a form of a circle, was it a bracelet an armband? What was it's purpose. I would come
up with hypotheses of the purpose of all of their items. Another thing that i would look at is the
Romans because they are very closely related from their buildings to their culture. I would look
at any other culture or civilizations and see if there are any similarities between them. Doing all
this possible research I could get from other cultures, past civilizations that had close similarities
to the people of Pompeii. After looking at the information from that I would try to piece together
why. Why would a civilization that was doing so well come to their demise. It said that there was
a small civilization already where the Pompeians decided to start their home but like tragedy that

struck Pompeii the exact same happened to the people there before (The Archaeological Site of
Pompeii). Knowing this wouldn't they have come to the conclusion that this was not a place that
was safe. Having your home next to a volcano that could erupt at any given time or moment. The
volcano caused great destruction but also preserved all that was there as well. After the piercing
of everything together I would come to the conclusion that they thought the volcano was inactive
causing them to think that living right at the edge was safe.

Bibliography
Jashemski, Wilhelmina Freemaster."Pompeii".
EncyclopediaBritannica.School&LirarySubscribers.23Feb2016.WEB

"HistoryoftheExcavationofPompeii."Pompeii.SoprintendenzaPompeii.WEB

Stewart, Doug."ResurrectingPompeii."Smithsonian.com.SmithsonianMagazine.Feb2006.WEB

"Life&DeathinPompeii&Herculaneum.thegaurdian.28March. WEB