We are all aware of the story of Pompeii, the Roman town near Vesuvius that was buried in 79 AD when the volcano erupted. So how can an ancient town be expanding?
Much of the old city remains to be excavated; about a third of the site remains untouched. Recently, work began on an entire city block surrounded by four of the Roman streets. And although little has been uncovered so far, the tops of the Roman buildings are beginning to appear as the solidified volcanic ash is carefully removed. Even better – this new excavation is near the centre of the old town, so finding out what lies hidden there may be even more exciting than a dig in the outskirts.
As time passes we are learning more and more about the town’s Roman structure, even in parts excavated decades ago, new discoveries add to our knowledge all the time. An earthquake 27 years before the famous eruption damaged a house next to the public baths. Work to extend the baths involved demolishing the remaining structure of the house, but some of the foundations and mosaic pavements were simply covered by the new work and have recently been discovered.
The above is based on the Current World Archaeology article listed below, please read the article for more detail.
Further information
- Gabriel Zuchtriegel – An archaeologist’s Twitter feed with a lot of posts on Pompeii
- Photo and a note on the area being excavated – Twitter post
- New archaeological work begins at Pompeii – Current World Archaeology
- Pompeii – Wikipedia, a good general introduction with references
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