Tuesday 25 September 2012

Lecture at the Sorbonne Abu Dhabi


La Villa des Mystères (Pompéi)

Date: 30-Sep-2012

Time: 6:00 PM
Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi


History of Art and Archaeology department

is organizing a series of evening discussions about documentary projections commented by academics specialists in History of Art and Archaeology.

The next projection is titled

“La Villa des Mystères (Pompéi)”

presented by Prof. G. Sauron, Roman archeology.

The lecture will be conducted in French
See the Sorbonne website for further details.

Book: Fuoco la vita e gli dei (Il). Storie della Casa di C. Giulio Polibio in Pompei.


Forthcoming, according to L'Erma di Bretschneider's website:

Fiori Marcello and Salerno Claudio (eds), Fuoco la vita e gli dei (Il). Storie della Casa di C. Giulio Polibio in Pompei. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider (Studia Archaeologica, 194), 2012

Article: Ten years of the Herculaneum Conservation Project

Just published in the Papers of the British School at Rome:
Domenico Camardo, Sarah Court and Jane Thompson, Archaeological Fieldwork Reports: Ten years of the Herculaneum Conservation Project. PBSR 80 (October 2012), 360 - 362.

Saturday 22 September 2012

RCRF - Pots under the (Sicilian) volcano


Next week will be a pretty intense one for Roman pottery specialists, since the 28th biannual Congress of the Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautores will take place in Catania, in the shadow of Mt. Etna.
For those who are not acquainted with this organisation, the RCRF is the largest (and most authoritative) international society specialising in the field of Roman pottery.



This year's congress is titled "From broken pottery to lost identity in Roman times" and it features 47 talks and 91 posters. Among these, quite a few will deal with Roman pottery in Campania; here it is a (hopefully) complete list. Please note that you can read the abstract of Apolline Project's talk (i.e. Martucci-De Simone-D'Italia), here on academia.edu.


J.T. Pea, The Pompeii Artifact Life History Project: Conceptual background and first season’s results.


C.S. Martucci - G.F. De Simone - S. D’Italia, Late Antique local productions between Vesuvius and the Apennines.

D. Bernal - D. Cottica - E. Garca-Vargas - L. Toniolo - C.G. Rodrguez- Santana - C. Acqua - R. Marlasca - J. Vargas - A.M. Sez, Un contexto excepcional en Pompeya: estudio interdisciplinar de la pila de ánforas de la Bottega del Garum (I, XII, 8). 


Posters:

M. DE FILIPPO, Transport amphorae from Rione Terra, Pozzuoli (Napoli).

R. FEDERICO, Amphorae, broken amphorae and pottery fragments from a Roman villa south of Naples: Stabiae and the romanized territory until the eruption of 79. 


P. ORLANDO, Cooking Ware and Coarse Ware from Rione Terra (Pozzuoli, Naples).
A. RIBERA, Sicilian Amphorae in Pompei.
C. SUGIYAMA - T. MUKAI - M. AOYAGI, The function and use of big mortar in late Roman -the archaeobotanical research in Somma Vesuviana (Italy).

Friday 21 September 2012

Event: Herculaneum at the Lichfield Literary Festival

Date for your UK diaries: 1 October.
Chance to see Andrew Wallace-Hadrill talking about Herculaneum and his latest book at the Lichfield Literary Festival:

"In AD 79, the volcano Vesuvius erupted, burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash and rock, and leaving them remarkably well preserved for centuries. While Pompeii has been extensively written about and popularized, the remains of its sister city, a smaller yet wealthier community close to the sea, are less widely known, but they have yielded spectacular archaeological evidence.
Herculaneum is based on the latest excavation work and incorporates much new material that has revolutionized our understanding of the site. It is the definitive overview of what we know and understand about Herculaneum, of what is still unknown and mysterious, and of the potential for future discoveries in both archaeological and political contexts."

More here.

British Museum exhibition - press release

More information released on the BM's 2013 exhibition:

Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum

28 March – 29 September 2013
Reading Room
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs

In Spring 2013 the British Museum will present a major exhibition on the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, sponsored by Goldman Sachs. This exhibition will be the first ever held on these important cities at the British Museum, and the first such major exhibition in London for almost 40 years. It is the result of close collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii, will bring together over 250 fascinating objects, both recent discoveries and celebrated finds from earlier excavations. Many of these objects have never before been seen outside Italy. The exhibition will have a unique focus, looking at the Roman home and the people who lived in these ill-fated cities.
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum said "This will be a major exhibition for the British Museum in 2013, made possible through collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii which has meant extremely generous loans of precious objects from their collections, some that have never travelled before. I am delighted that Goldman Sachs is sponsoring this important exhibition and am extremely grateful to them for their support."
"It is a privilege to be partnering with the British Museum for this incredibly exciting exhibition, which offers a fascinating insight into daily life at the heart of the Roman Empire", said Richard Gnodde, Co Chief executive of Goldman Sachs International. "We recognize the importance of supporting cultural platforms such as this and we are delighted to offer our support to help bring this unique experience to London."
Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities on the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, were buried by a catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in just 24 hours in AD 79. This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later. The excavation of these cities has given us unparallelled insight into Roman life.
Owing to their different locations Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried in different ways and this has affected the preservation of materials at each site. Herculaneum was a small seaside town whereas Pompeii was the industrial hub of the region. Work continues at both sites and recent excavations at Herculaneum have uncovered beautiful and fascinating artefacts. These include treasures many of which will be displayed to the public for the first time, such as finely sculpted marble reliefs, intricately carved ivory panels and fascinating objects found in one of the main drains of the city.
The exhibition will give visitors a taste of the daily life of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, from the bustling street to the family home. The domestic space is the essential context for people’s lives, and allows us to get closer to the Romans themselves. This exhibition will explore the lives of individuals in Roman society, not the classic figures of films and television, such as emperors, gladiators and legionaries, but businessmen, powerful women, freed slaves and children. One stunning example of this material is a beautiful wall painting from Pompeii showing the baker Terentius Neo and his wife, holding writing materials showing they are literate and cultured. Importantly their pose and presentation suggests they are equal partners, in business and in life.
The emphasis on a domestic context also helps transform museum artefacts into everyday possessions. Six pieces of wooden furniture will be lent from Herculaneum in an unprecedented loan by the Archaeological Superintendency of Napels and Pompeii. These items were carbonized by the high temperatures of the ash that engulfed the city and are extremely rare finds that would not have survived at Pompeii – showing the importance of combining evidence from the two cities. The furniture includes a linen chest, an inlaid stool and even a garden bench. Perhaps the most astonishing and moving piece is a baby’s crib that still rocks on its curved runners.
The exhibition will include casts from in and around Pompeii of some of the victims of the eruption. A family of two adults and their two children are huddled together, just as in their last moments under the stairs of their villa. The most famous of the casts on display is of a dog, fixed forever at the moment of its death as the volcano submerged the cities.
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
In collaboration with Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
Portrait of baker Terentius Neo and his wife. Pompeii, AD 55–79. © DeAgostini/SuperStock.
Portrait of baker Terentius Neo and his wife. Pompeii, AD 55–79. © DeAgostini/SuperStock.

Notes to editors

Admission charge £15 plus a range of concessions. Tickets can be booked online or +44 (0)20 7323 8181. Opening hours 10.00–17.30 Saturday to Thursday and 10.00–20.30 on Fridays.
An accompanying publication is available from March 2013 by British Museum Press: Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, by Paul Roberts. A magnificent illustrated book offering a unique perspective on the everyday lives of the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Hardback, £45, paperback £25.
Follow updates on the exhibition via Twitter on #PompeiiExhibition and the Museum’s Twitter account @britishmuseum.
A full public programme accompanies the exhibition. More information is available from the press office.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world, including London, which today represents our largest population outside of our headquarters in New York.
In the UK, Goldman Sachs has most recently sponsored the Tate Modern’s Miro and Henry Moore exhibitions and the Royal Academy of Art’s The Three Emperors exhibition.

Contacts

For further information please contact the Press Office on +44 (0)20 7323 8394 / 8583 or communications@britishmuseum.org
For high resolution images go to picselect.com register for free and find the British Museum under Arts.
For public information please print britishmuseum.org/pompeii or +44 (0)20 7323 8181.

News reports on Longola and Nola

Two items on two prehistoric villages in Campania, one lamenting its current condition, the other announcing that the site is no longer to be buried:

Poggiomarino, scavi di Longola: abbandono e degrado (MetropolisWeb)

Nola, il villaggio preistorico non verrà più sotterrato (La Republica, 18/9/12)

Giornate Europee del Patrimonio: free entry to archaeological sites

Press release from the SANP:
Giornate Europee del Patrimonio

29 e 30 settembre

Ingresso gratuito ai siti archeologici vesuviani

La Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei comunica che, in occasione della Giornate Europee del Patrimonio “ L’Italia tesoro d’Europa “ indette dal Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali nei giorni sabato 29 e domenica 30 settembre, l’ingresso agli scavi di Pompei, Ercolano, Oplontis, Stabia e all’Antiquarium di Boscoreale sarà gratuito.

Presso gli scavi di Pompei sarà possibile, inoltre, usufruire di una visita guidata su prenotazione dedicata a “La cura del corpo” nel suggestivo complesso delle Terme Stabiane. Si tratta dell'edificio termale più antico della città (II sec. a.C.), costruito su un impianto precedente del IV-III secolo a. C.; suddiviso in terme maschili e femminili, presenta la classica ripartizione in apodyterium (spogliatoio), frigidarium (sala con vasca per il bagno freddo), tepidarium (sala tiepida) e calidarium (sala per il bagno caldo).

Le visite previste per le ore 10,30 e le ore 12,00 di sabato e domenica per un massimo 30 persone per turno, e a cura di CoopCulture, sono su prenotazione obbligatoria al seguente numero tel 081.8575327 (ore 9,30 - 15,00 da lunedì 24 a venerdì 28 settembre).

UFFICIO STAMPA

Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
Via Villa dei Misteri, 2
80045 Pompei NA
Tel. 081.8575327
www.pompeiisites.org

Thursday 20 September 2012

British Museum - Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition

The countdown begins to next year's most exciting exhibition: "Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" to be held at the British Museum 28 March – 29 September 2013.

Information and booking can be found on the BM's website.

Oebalus V Ciclo di Conferenze


Pompeii and Herculaneum at the British Museum

Today we've finally had the formal announcement of the exhibition 'Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' that will take place at the British Museum from 28 March – 29 September 2013. More information will follow on Blogging Pompeii before the exhibition opens, but in the meantime this is the press release:
Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum
28 March – 29 September 2013
Reading Room
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
In collaboration with Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei

In Spring 2013 the British Museum will present a major exhibition on the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, sponsored by Goldman Sachs. This exhibition will be the first ever held on these important cities at the British Museum, and the first such major exhibition in London for almost 40 years. It is the result of close collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii, will bring together over 250 fascinating objects, both recent discoveries and celebrated finds from earlier excavations. Many of these objects have never before been seen outside Italy. The exhibition will have a unique focus, looking at the Roman home and the people who lived in these ill-fated cities.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum said "This will be a major exhibition for the British Museum in 2013, made possible through collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii which has meant extremely generous loans of precious objects from their collections, some that have never travelled before. I am delighted that Goldman Sachs is sponsoring this important exhibition and am extremely grateful to them for their support."

"It is a privilege to be partnering with the British Museum for this incredibly exciting exhibition, which offers a fascinating insight into daily life at the heart of the Roman Empire", said Richard Gnodde, Co Chief executive of Goldman Sachs International. "We recognize the importance of supporting cultural platforms such as this and we are delighted to offer our support to help bring this unique experience to London."

Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities on the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, were buried by a catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in just 24 hours in AD 79. This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later. The excavation of these cities has given us unparallelled insight into Roman life.

Owing to their different locations Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried in different ways and this has affected the preservation of materials at each site. Herculaneum was a small seaside town whereas Pompeii was the industrial hub of the region. Work continues at both sites and recent excavations at Herculaneum have uncovered beautiful and fascinating artefacts. These include treasures many of which will be displayed to the public for the first time, such as finely sculpted marble reliefs, intricately carved ivory panels and fascinating objects found in one of the main drains of the city.

The exhibition will give visitors a taste of the daily life of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, from the bustling street to the family home. The domestic space is the essential context for people’s lives, and allows us to get closer to the Romans themselves. This exhibition will explore the lives of individuals in Roman society, not the classic figures of films and television, such as emperors, gladiators and legionaries, but businessmen, powerful women, freed slaves and children. One stunning example of this material is a beautiful wall painting from Pompeii showing the baker Terentius Neo and his wife, holding writing materials showing they are literate and cultured. Importantly their pose and presentation suggests they are equal partners, in business and in life.

The emphasis on a domestic context also helps transform museum artefacts into everyday possessions. Six pieces of wooden furniture will be lent from Herculaneum in an unprecedented loan by the Archaeological Superintendency of Napels and Pompeii. These items were carbonized by the high temperatures of the ash that engulfed the city and are extremely rare finds that would not have survived at Pompeii – showing the importance of combining evidence from the two cities. The furniture includes a linen chest, an inlaid stool and even a garden bench. Perhaps the most astonishing and moving piece is a baby’s crib that still rocks on its curved runners.

The exhibition will include casts from in and around Pompeii of some of the victims of the eruption. A family of two adults and their two children are huddled together, just as in their last moments under the stairs of their villa. The most famous of the casts on display is of a dog, fixed forever at the moment of its death as the volcano submerged the cities.
The exhibition curator has written a book to accompany the exhibition and this will be available from March 2013: Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, by Paul Roberts, British Museum Press.

Follow updates on the exhibition via Twitter on #PompeiiExhibition and the Museum’s Twitter account @britishmuseum.

Tickets are now on sale - check out the website for more information.

Friends of Herculaneum lecture

The Friends of Herculaneum Society (www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk) is pleased to
sponsor a lecture by Prof. Dr. Oliver Primavesi, Professor of Greek
Philology in the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, on "Winckelmann
in Portici 1762: The Discovery of the Polychromy of Greek Sculpture".

The lecture will take place on Saturday 13 October at 4:00 p.m. in the Ioannou
Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles, Oxford, and will
be followed by a reception. All are very welcome.

Apolline Project in the news

The Apolline Project has been very busy this month! Congratulations to all project members on a successful season! There are several newspaper articles about their discoveries on the dark side of Vesuvius:

Tornano alla vita gli abitanti medievali di Cammarano (13/9/12, Il Mediano.it)

Nuova scoperta archeologica a Roccarainola (13/9/12, Napoli Post)

Rinasce la villa di Augusto: quattro secoli di segreti e misteri (18/9/12, Il Mattino)

Wednesday 19 September 2012

The jazzy side of Vesuvius

The Pomigliano Jazz Festival is the largest annual jazz event in Campania and one of the most renowned in Italy. Most importantly, the Festival is becoming a way to promote heritage and environment in the Neapolitan countryside.


The Festival begins tonight with a concert by Incognito and Mario Biondi at the Roman amphitheatre at Avella and continues with other events at the Medici castle in Ottaviano and at the early Christian churches in Cimitile.
Sharing the same vision of alternative tourism and holistic promotion of cultural heritage, the Apolline Project now partners with the Pomigliano Jazz Festival to promote the archaeological sites on the northern slope of Vesuvius. Next Sunday, tours will depart from Naples to visit the archaeological sites, the side cones of Vesuvius, castles, monasteries, and the rich vineyards.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Amoenitas - Journal on Roman Villas


The second issue of Amoenitas, the journal on Roman Villas published by the Istituto Poligrafico Zecca dello Stato, is finally out. This issue encompasses several articles on Vesuvian villas (click on the pictures below to read the table of contents).
The journal can be bought here, send a message to info@apollineproject.org if you want to receive a copy of Martucci et alii's contribution on the pottery assemblage from the villa with baths of Pollena Trocchia.




Monday 17 September 2012

The Roman Villa, the Medieval Church, and the local population


Roccarainola - On Saturday, 15 September the Apolline Project presented the findings of their 2011-12 excavation seasons from the Medieval Church (built with Roman spolia) of Sant'Arcangelo to the general populace of the town at the Museum of Roccarainola.


The conference panel featured the director of the excavation, Nicola De Carlo, the project's ceramic anaylist, Vincenzo Castaldo, in addition to the project's anthropologist, Amanda James. Underlying the presentation was the expressed need for the general populace of Roccarainola to gain a more spirited understanding of their region's history and a valuable perspective into the the lives of their predecessors. Conference participants appreciated an enthusiastic audience as well as a thought provoking question and answer session following the presentation.

Further information on the Roman Villa and the Medieval Church can be found here. An overview of the bone remains is provided here.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Conference on the Ager Nolanus

In the common effort to create stronger connections among the scholars working on the Nolan countryside, next week there will be a two-days conference titled "Territorio e Archeologia - Contributi per lo studio dell'Ager Nolanus". Details are provided in the pictures below (click to enlarge).



Wednesday 12 September 2012

The Oplontis Project - Second Annual Conference

The 14th of September at 6.30pm there will be the Second Annual Conference of the Oplontis Project, in the "Ernesto Cesaro" Public Library of Torre Annunziata.
Professor Giovanni Di Maio, geologist, is hosting the meeting, which this year is entitled "Studi stratigrafici nel territorio di Torre Annunziata".


Monday 10 September 2012

Photos: Immagini cedimento trave Villa dei Misteri

The SANP have now circulated photos of the collapse in the Villa of the Mysteries:


FYI, this is the press release that was issued over the weekend:
La Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei comunica che nella scorsa notte si è registrato il cedimento di una trave di legno moderna della copertura del peristilio di Villa dei Misteri. Il sopralluogo condotto dai funzionari e dai Carabinieri del Comando di Pompei non ha rilevato alcun danno alle strutture archeologiche né alle coperture. Pompei, 08.09.2012

Pompeii Aerial Survey Project

For those who don't yet know about this exciting new project, which is currently in the field:

Pompeii Aerial Survey Project

Project Aim
The aim of our project is to test the application of aerial drone technology in the documentation and survey of built structures in an archaeological context (Pompeii) against traditional methods of architectural investigation. Our project is carried out in collaboration and with the support of two existing projects which have been working for a number of years on the site at Pompeii: the Expeditio Pompeiana Universitatis Helsingiensis and from the University of Helsinki (Finland) and Pistrina: les boulangeries de l'Italie romaine of the École française de Rome. The former of these projects has been working at Pompeii for approximately 10 years studying the Casa di Marco Lucrezio and other properties of insula IX, 3 while the latter aims to provide a comprehensive re-examination of all of Pompeii’s bakeries (pistrina). Our project is generously sponsored by Landinspektørfirmaet LE34 A/S (Copenaghen) and with very kind permission of the Soprintendenza Speciali per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei.

Our Methodology
We use a remote-controlled aerial drone to take geo-referenced digital photographs (see attached). These photographs will then be developed to create 3D panoramas, ortho-photos and a 3D model of insula IX, 3 and a selection of Pompeii’s bakeries. We will also employ a laser scanner in order to provide a framework for the digital model. This model will then be fully integrated with, and will complement the surveys conducted by the projects already indicated. It is hoped that this methodology will not only allow us to survey the structures in a far more rapid and detailed way than has previously been possible but which will also potentially establish a new methodology for architectural survey that would be of use to other archaeological projects at Pompeii or elsewhere. Finally, besides the highly detailed 3D digital model, it is hoped that the drone will allow us to provide us with unique images and previously unrealized perspectives of a part of Pompeii’s standing remains!

The Drones!
Our aerial drones (see attached) offer a previously unparalleled opportunity to remotely and quickly survey standing structures. The drone typically flies for 8-10 minutes at a time and it can follow a pre-programmed set route or altitude and it will come back to you at the press of a button and its flight can be followed by a small inbuilt camera. The attached camera can take HD photographs or films including 360 degree recordings. The drone has several gyroscopes and GPS on board that keep it in position and it handles winds automatically. These features enable the drone to take geo-referenced HD photographs, accurate down to 0.01 m accuracy, which are simply impossible from traditional balloon-based cameras or other aerial survey methods. As the drone can take many hundreds of photographs in a single flight our method also allows us to complete the photogrammetric survey far more rapidly than by a traditional hand-held method, which can be highly time-consuming. Moreover, these features also allow the drone to maintain a controlled, safe and consistent position even in windy conditions!
 
We are in the field conducting our survey now and will be posting a daily blog from Pompeii on our Facebook site (see below) and then publishing the development and results of the models in due course. We are really excited about this project; to my knowledge, this technology has never been employed at Pompeii before!
 
I hope you find this interesting too and if you would like to know any more please just drop us a line.
 
James Andrews
Project Director
 
Pompeii Aerial Survey Project

Sunday 9 September 2012

Newspaper article: Cede trave nella Villa dei Misteri

Pompei, crollo nella notte. Cede trave nella Villa dei Misteri
Si tratta di un'asse che reggeva il tetto dell'antica abitazione romana e che era stata fissata durante un'operazione di restauro negli anni 70. La zona del nuovo incidente era aperta al pubblico. Secondo gli esperti una tragedia sfiorata. Il ministero: "Nessun danno ad affreschi e decorazioni".
Ennesimo crollo all'interno degli scavi di Pompei, dopo il cedimento del muro di cinta di una delle Domus avvenuto ad aprile. La scorsa notte una delle travi in legno di circa 4 metri che reggono il peristilio di Villa dei Misteri, negli scavi archeologici di Pompei, è caduta. L'elemento sosteneva il tetto in tegole della villa, che non è in pericolo. La trave era stata collocata nella Domus durante una delle operazioni di restauro avvenuta negli anni 70 come hanno confermato il Soprintendente Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro e il Segretario generale del Ministero dei beni culturali, Antonio Pasqua Recchia che poi ha aggiunto: "La caduta della trave non ha prodotto nessun danno agli affreschi e all'apparato decorativo".
More here.Note the chronology of wall collapse in the end of the article.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Book sale - L'Erma di Bretschneider

It's that time of year again: 75% discount on some of L'Erma di Bretschneider's publications, including their Pompeii titles. See more details here.

Thursday 6 September 2012

Lecture in Nashville, TN on sculpture around the Bay of Naples

For those of you in the general vicinity of Nashville, TN (that's in the USA), I will be giving a lecture on October 2 called "The Archaeology of Sculpture Collecting Around the Bay of Naples," with a focus on domestic contexts. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be held inside the Nashville Parthenon (so a 2-for-1 on getting your Hellenic and Roman worlds covered in one evening).

Thanks for circulating this info! I will try to share the paper and presentation after the lecture.


And a PS just for Jo: Yes, I know that is a photo from a staged excavation, but I just couldn't resist!

Lectures: Pompeii and Herculaneum AD 79

Short notice - I only just saw this - but definitely worth going to if you are in London on Saturday. Paul is a great speaker, and the BM exhibition next year is going to be awesome!
Bloomsbury Summer School Study Day: Pompeii and Herculaneum AD 79 (Vesuvius, Naples, London)

A day of lectures with Dr Paul Roberts preparing you for next year’s big exhibition at the British Museum.

Saturday September 8th 2012: 10.00 am - 5.30 pm
Cruciform Lecture Theatre, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

Ticket: £40 (ticket price includes tea/coffee & biscuits in the afternoon and morning breaks, but does not include lunch).

The lecturer: Dr Paul Roberts is Curator of Roman Art and Archaeology at the British Museum, and Curator of next year’s Pompeii and Herculaneum – Life and Death in the Roman Empire exhibition at the British Museum. His research focuses on aspects of the daily life of the ordinary people of the Roman world. He has excavated in Italy, Greece, Libya and Turkey. He co-directs the excavations at Forum Novum, north of Rome.

The lectures:
Ordinary Cities, Extraordinary Events: Public life of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

At Home with the Romans: Domestic Life in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Life and Death. Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Cities come to London.

Ancient Store Rooms, New Discoveries. Behind the Scenes and the Making of the Exhibition.

What to expect: In AD 79 two cities on the Bay of Naples in southern Italy were buried by a catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Preserved deep under the ash the cities of Vesuvius and Herculaneum provide one of the most remarkable, immediate and moving glimpses of the Roman world. There are stately public buildings, such as theatres and baths, streets filled with shops and bars and houses of all shapes and sizes from luxurious mansions to flats above shops. Sculptures of emperors, gods and benefactors, inscriptions, electoral notices and graffiti filled the streets. In the houses were stunning mosaics and wall paintings showing everything from mythological scenes to still life, and sex, as well as jewellery, objects of silver, glass and even wooden furniture miraculously preserved. Most importantly there were the ordinary people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, their lives, their loves and their deaths on that fateful day in August AD79. Many of the beautiful (and ordinary) household objects from the cities will be brought to London for a major exhibition in 2013. As part of our study day we will also look at the exhibition itself, including new discoveries from Herculaneum, shown in London for the first time, and the world behind the scenes, putting together the exhibition.
 See here for information about how to buy tickets.

Nova Bibliotheca Pompeiana Project

From www.arborsapientiae.com, news that Garcia y Garcia's 1998 Nova Bibliotheca Pompeiana is to be digitised. Scholars who have noticed errors in that original publication are encouraged to send corrections to Garcia y Garcia at garciaygarcial@yahoo.com. It's not clear to me whether this new digitised bibliography will be offered free of charge or whether we'll have to pay to use it. Readers should note that a similar bibliographic tool is currently being developed by Eric Poehler at Pompeiana.org.
Nova Bibliotheca Pompeiana Project

NBP-Project si propone al mondo degli studiosi di antichità vesuviane come uno strumento di ricerca liberamente consultabile che accoglie la bibliografia sull’argomento prodotta dal 1747 al 1998 e curata da più di quaranta anni dal Dott. Laurentino Garcia y Garcia. Il progetto mira alla condivisione dei dati, allo scambio d’informazioni, alla semplificazione delle modalità di ricerca attraverso l’utilizzo delle tecnologie digitali e ad offrire a tutti gli studiosi di “pompeianistica”un nuovo accesso a contenuti altamente affidabili e costantemente aggiornati.

L’editore Arbor Sapientiae è lieto di ospitare NBP - Project all’interno del proprio sito e di curarne tecnicamente la gestione e l’ottimizzazione dell’indicizzazione attraverso la messa on-line dei contenuti:

- oltre 16.000 record bibliografici
- oltre 10.000 autori di tutto il mondo
- indici e apparati altamente specializzati e approfonditi

Il progetto digitale si affianca alla nuova pubblicazione in cartaceo del 1° Supplemento alla Nova Bibliotecha Pompeiana 1999 – 2011.

Così si esprime il curatore del progetto per illustrare brevemente le finalità del suo nuovo lavoro:

«Nel 1998 furono pubblicati, nel XIV volume della collana di monografie della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, i due tomi della Nova Bibliotheca Pompeiana (d’ora in poi citati come NBP). In essa si raccoglievano, fino al 1997, i contributi di quasi 250 anni di bibliografia ed iconografia su Pompei, Ercolano, Stabia, Oplontis e gli altri centri antichi della zona vesuviana. A distanza di dodici anni dalla pubblicazione del mio contributo alla bibliografia archeologica e documentaria sulle città sepolte dal Vesuvio nel 79 d.C. eccomi ad offrire agli studiosi una versione digitale della NBP e un primo supplemento cartaceo che accoglie la bibliografia e l’indicizzazione delle pubblicazioni successive. In poco più di dodici anni la quantità di contributi apportati al nostro ambito di ricerca è stata impressionante: il proliferare di nuove ricerche e l’affacciarsi di tanti nuovi ricercatori, ha creato una bibliografia sterminata.
Sono da segnalare tra i temi intensamente sviluppati in anni recenti: il mondo e il ruolo delle donne, gli aspetti dell’erotismo, della sessualità e della prostituzione, le ricerche attorno al porto di Pompei, l’affannosa ricerca sull’origine e lo sviluppo urbano della città, con decine di cantieri di scavi stratigrafici in quasi tutte le zone entro le mura cittadine, ecc. Grande incremento hanno avuto anche le ricerche nel campo della pittura, del mosaico e, soprattutto, degli aspetti economico-sociali della produzione, dell’industria, dell’artigianato e del commercio delle merci.
Se la versione cartacea pubblicata nel 1998 raccoglieva la bibliografia prodotta fino al 1997, in questa nuova versione on-line sono state aggiunte migliaia di correzioni, integrazioni e aggiunte, onde completare tutti i contributi pubblicati fino all'anno 1998. Il primo supplemento comprende la bibliografia apparsa dal 1999 fino agli inizi del 2012.
Sin d'ora lavoriamo per la compilazione di ulteriori supplementi che continueranno ad aggiornare tutto quanto sarà pubblicato sulle nostre città campane». L. G. y G

Scopo di NBP Project è restituire, nel modo più completo e aggiornato possibile, una versione facilmente consultabile della sterminata bibliografia che l’infaticabile lavoro del Dott. Garcia y Garcia raccoglie e indicizza costantemente, avvalendosi delle più tradizionali ed autorevoli regole bibliografiche.

Affinché questo sia possibile si chiede la collaborazione di tutti coloro che hanno scritto e scriveranno contributi sulle città sepolte dal Vesuvio, controllando che il loro nome sia stato immesso in NBP-Project e segnalando a garciaygarcial@yahoo.com eventuali errori e/o omissioni che saranno prontamente raccolti e le modifiche verrenno inserite nei costanti aggiornamenti semestrali.
Note, too, that Arbor Sapientiae are offering a range of Pompeii-related books for sale:

DHER Domus Herculanensis Rationes. Sito Archivio Museo - Collana Studi e Scavi Antonella Coralini 55.00 €

Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. Vol IV. Pars IV. Fasc.I: Inscriptiones parietariae Pompeianae Herculanenses Stabiana 20.00 €

The Complete Pompeii Joanne Berry 60.00 €

Wildflowers amid the Ruins: Greece and Pompeii Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski 30.00 €

Pompeii and the Roman Villa. Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples Carol C . Mattusch 60.00 €

Poggiomarino. Tomo I e II - Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 32 A cura di Cicirelli Caterina e Livadie Claude Albore 285.00 €

Titulorum graphio exaratorum e regione Vesuviana imagines I e II - Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 31 Varone Antonio 320.00 €

Carta archeologica e ricerche in Campania. Ricerche intorno al Santuario di Diana a Tifatina. Fascicolo 6 - Collana: Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica. Supplementi, 9 Quilici Gigli Stefania 135.00 €

Pompei, tra la polvere degli scavi. Essere soprintendente a Pompei: memorie umane e professionali Guzzo P. Giovanni 15.00 €

Pompei nell’Unità d’Italia. Gli eventi, i personaggi, la politica culturale Jacobelli Luciana 24.00 €

Rivista di Studi Pompeiani vol. XXI - 2010 120.00 €

Nascere vivere e morire a POMPEI Eva Cantarella, Luciana Jacobelli 59.00 €

Diario del monte Vesuvio. Venti secoli di immagini e cronache di un vulcano nella città Giovanni P. Ricciardi 80.00 €

Pompei e il Vesuvio scienza, conoscenza ed esperienza 28.00 €

V/2010 Pompei. Scavo stratigrafico nel settore orientale dell’insula IX, 1 - Campagne di scavo 2004 e 2006. L’area sacro-arcaico-ellenistica. L’occupazione dei lotti abitativi Gallo Alessandro 60.00 €

Rileggere Pompei II 2. L’Insula 13 della Regio VI - Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 30 A cura di Verzar-Bass Monika e Oriolo Flaviana 330.00 €

OTIUM LUDENS. Stabiae, cuore dell’Impero Romano 45.00 €

La necropoli protostorica di Striano. Gli scavi del 1938 al 1994 - III /2009 - Quaderni di Studi Pompeiani D’ambrosio A. - Di Maio G. - Scala C. 50.00 €

ARBOR SAPIENTIAE S.r.l.
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per info:
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tel +39 - 346/8424032

A Day in Pompeii (tweeted)

I was on holiday at the end of August and completely missed this great advertising campaign by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which is about to host the 'A Day in Pompeii' exhibition (from September 14th). Here's the description from the Huffington Post:
Pompeii's Last 24 Hours Tweeted In Preparation For 'A Day In Pompeii' Exhibit At Denver Museum Of Nature & Science (TWEETS)
Over the weekend, an ancient Roman came to life on Twitter to recount the final hours of the city of Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the Roman city and all of its residents in ash.
In real-time and exactly 1,933 years after the eruption, Pliny the Elder -- a Roman scholar and commender of the Roman fleet at Misenum who took command of the city's evacuation in August, 79 AD and died trying to rescue a friend and his family from the disaster -- was resurrected, if only briefly and digitally, to tell the tale as it happened from 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 24 until 6:55 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25 when his final tweet was posted.
Pliny the Elder's first tweet went out on Wednesday before the eruption:

Pliny the Elder
The gods must be roaming the earth. I felt the ground shake this morning.
To which, some of the Elder's nearly 5,000 followers tweeted "Run!" and "Leave now!!" 25 tweets follow, bringing history back to life as the Elder Pliny describes the scene in Pompeii as things turn from bad to worse. Each tweet is accompanied by a link back to an interactive website with photos and more information about Pliny the Elder's whereabouts during those fateful hours in August of 79 AD.
The tweets are based on the final hours of Pliny the Elder's life as told by his nephew and heir, Pliny the Younger, who obtained an account of his Uncle's death from the survivors and told the story in a letter to Tacitus, a senator and historian of the Roman Empire. Read Pliny the Younger's letter to Tacitus here, historians believe that the Younger wrote the letter to Tacitus nearly thirty years after the tragedy occurred.
The novel Twitter campaign was launched by The Denver Museum of Nature & Science in preparation for their upcoming exhibit focused on the ancient Roman city which opens Sept. 14. Called "A Day in Pompeii," the exhibit will display some of the hundreds of artifacts that were unearthed when the city was rediscovered in the early 1700s.
 Follow this link to the article to see all of the tweets. The exhibition is at Denver until January 13th 2013. Check out the exhibition website here. There is also an accompanying interactive exhibition website that uses Google Maps - you can explore Pompeii, read descriptions of certain buildings and see objects that are in the exhibition. I didn't find it easy to use (that might just be me!) and the objects seemed rather randomly placed. Still, it's a nice idea.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Evento: TESORI VISIBILI E INVISIBILI

Il 5 Settembre alle ore 18.00
la Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei  e la Casa editrice Utet
nel Teatro di Corte del Palazzo Reale di Napoli

presentano
TESORI VISIBILI E INVISIBILI
il futuro del patrimonio archeologico di Napoli e Pompei


Al centro dell'incontro saranno la collezione pompeiana del Museo Archeologico di Napoli e il Sito archeologico più famoso del mondo, con particolare attenzione ai reperti e alle opere d'arte non esposte al pubblico: una occasione per riflettere su come riscoprire e valorizzare un patrimonio straordinario spesso poco conosciuto.
Nel corso dell'incontro si presenterà il Volume di pregio "Pompei" realizzato dalla Casa editrice UTET in collaborazione con la Direzione del Museo Archeologico di Napoli.

Intervengono

Gregorio Angelini, Direttore Regionale Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Campania
Stefano De Caro, Direttore ICCROM-UNESCO
Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro, Soprintendente per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
Valeria Sampaolo, Direttore Museo Archeologico di Napoli
Andreas Stener, Direttore Rivista Archeo
Friedrich-Wilhelm von Hase, Università di Vienna
Livio Zerbini, Università di Ferrara
Marco Castelluzzo, Amministratore delegato UTET
Enrico Cravetto, Direttore Editoriale UTET

 Evento a ingresso libero nel Teatro di Corte fino ad esaurimento posti

http://palazzorealenapoli.beniculturali.it/

Vesuvinum 2012 - ancient and modern wine on the slopes of Vesuvius


Tomorrow, the 5th of September, will start the 5th edition of "Vesuvinum - I Giorni del Lacryma Christi", which is the most important event organised by Vesuvian wine producers.
Significantly, the opening ceremony will take place at the so-called Villa of Augustus in Somma Vesuviana, near the 2nd c. AD Dionysiac frescoes and stuccos and next to the late antique cella vinaria. On Saturday, a small conference on Roman agriculture around Vesuvius will take place at the Medici castle in the town of Ottaviano where also a photography exhibition on the archaeological sites of Somma Vesuviana and Pollena Trocchia is set. On Saturday and Sunday, visitors can book a visit to both archaeological sites.


With this event, we hope to create a stronger connection with wine producers and work together to engage the general public in preserving and promoting this neglected area.

On Dionysos and Vesuvius on this side of the volcano, see this contribution on Academia.edu



Question about sacred spaces at Pompeii

Phyllis Henderson just posted a question on BP's Facebook page. I repost it here so that others can see it too:
"Dear Colleagues at Blogging Pompeii,
I am a PhD candidate in architectural history and theory at the University of Florida. My research is centered about the architectural constructions that existed in Pompeii (and surrounding areas) for the purpose of viewing the beautiful landscape. I am currently exploring the manner in which people perceived the natural landscape by examining the mythological, cultural and historical aspects of life in Pompeii.

I am now looking for more specific information about the “sacred grove”, the “sacred portal” and the “sacred mound or mountain” and how these particular sacred natural spaces were used and perceived by the ancient Romans. These places were represented in many mythological landscape paintings, were part of the ancient roman culture and had a significant impact on daily life in terms of ritual and ceremony. I have quite a bit of general information already, but I have not, until now, engaged this forum of experts as my research grows more specific.
I would be quite indebted to anyone with any thoughts or source suggestions pertaining to this topic."

UNESCO's Director-General at Pompeii and Herculaneum

This news article has been published on the UNESCO website following a visit by their Director-General to the Vesuvian sites over the last couple of days.



The Director-General congratulates the Italian authorities for progress achieved in the conservation of the iconic World Heritage site of the Archaeological Areas of Pompei and Herculaneum.

During her visit to Naples on the occasion of the World Urban Forum organized by UN-HABITAT, the Director-General, Irina Bokova, commended the Italian authorities, and in particular the Municipal authorities and Superintendency of Region for the positive emergency conservation achievements at the World Heritage archaeological complex of Pompei, following the collapse of walls in 2010 and 2011.

She expressed appreciation for the recruitment of 21 new and qualified technical staff to strengthen maintenance and management at the property, as well as progress accomplished by putting in place much-needed drainage, hydrological and restoration works, which have been initiated under UNESCO's supervision in 44 domus on the property.
"Preventive conservation, maintenance and restoration efforts are key to ensure sustainable conservation of cultural heritage", she said.
The strengthening of cooperation and coordination between the various stakeholders involved in the conservation of the property - the Government of Italy, the Region and the Municipal authorities under UNESCO's leadership -- has proved especially valuable in making effective progress in the preservation of the archeological areas.
The authorities informed the Director-General about their intention to submit a preliminary report on the state of conservation before the end of the year in compliance with the decision of the World Heritage Committee.
The report will also provide necessary information on updating and the implementation of the Management Plan, integrating information on the expansion of the buffer zone, risk management measures and an emergency interventions plan that documents needs and addresses the pressure of tourism. 
......
The Director-General also visited the World Heritage properties of Herculaneum, where she expressed satisfaction for the Herculaneum Conservation Project management system as a successful public-private partnership for the conservation of the archaeological property. 

 To read more click here.

Article: Vesuvio, il gigante non dorme più?

I don't know how reliable this analysis is - but it makes interesting reading!
Vesuvio, il gigante non dorme più?
Il più temuto vulcano del mondo comincia a dare i primi segni di risveglio, sciami di terremoti di piccola durata ed energia dal mese di Maggio stanno interessando con maggiore frequenza l’area del cratere e localmente le zone prossimali. Gli eventi sismici sono andati aumentando progressivamente raggiungendo nel mese di Agosto quota 44 eventi. La crisi sismica più significativa in termini di terremoti quella del giorno di Ferragosto con 22 sismi di profondità variabile tra i 5km ed i 200m, tutti per lo più concentrati nell’area del cratere che come ben sappiamo è “tappato” da un duomo lavico dello spessore di svariate centinaia di metri che ostruisce completamente il condotto lavico.
Read the full article here.

Book: The Complete Roman Legions

I am finally back at my desk, having survived the wettest British summer since records began, and will soon resume regular Pompeii-related postings! However, I hope you will excuse this blatant misuse of the blog because I want to tell everyone that my new book (co-authored with Nigel Pollard) has just been published in the UK and will shortly be released in the USA too. The book is entitled The Complete Roman Legions and is published by Thames and Hudson. It is basically a history of each individual Roman imperial legion, but includes general sections on the Republican, Imperial and Late Antique legions too. Anyone who is interested can find more information on the Thames and Hudson website, or at Amazon:

           

There's also a German version.

Now I'll be getting back to some Pompeian research!
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