Photo of collapse in House of the Moralist

This photo of the collapse in the House of the Moralist has just been published on Facebook. You can see that part of the terraces behind the house have collapsed, presumably because of the heavy rainfall, bringing down the garden wall.

You can see other photos in the same Facebook album by Comitato Cincinnato Pompei, and also some excellent archival photos of the excavation of the Schola Armaturarum, damage to it during WW2 and the photos of the recent collapse (I don't want to post them all here without permission).

Collapse in the House of the Moralist

News in La Repubblica of another collapse, in the House of the Moralist:

Nuovo crollo a Pompei
di STELLA CERVASIO

Nuovo crollo a Pompei nella "Casa del moralista" chiusa al pubblico da sempre e situata a 20 metri dall'edificio crollato circa un mese fa su Via dell'Abbondanza. Il crollo riguarda un muro di fondo della casa che faceva da contenimento al peristilio, al giardino della domus. Sono caduti sei-sette metri di materiale "incerto", fortunatamente di scarso valore, formato solo da tufo e calcare. Recentemente erano stati eseguiti dei lavori al terrapieno retrostante la domus, che è inzuppato d'acqua.

More on digital resources

Further to Gene's question below and Nicolas' helpful link to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France website (http://gallica.bnf.fr), Martin Conde has posted information about another digital archive on BP's Facebook site: Arachne, the central object database of the DAI. In addition to a huge collection of photos and other documents, this site hosts a few old texts about Pompeii and Herculaneum, including Hamilton, Mazois, Gell, Mau, Cochin and Bellicard, but NOT (as far as I can see) Le Antichita di Ercolano Esposte. Nevertheless, an extremely useful site.

University of Tokyo/Aoyagi site off line?

Readers of Blogging Pompeii (see JB's post for 13 Oct 2009) may have come like me to depend on the wonderful website of Massanori Aoyagi and the University of Tokyo for access to such important texts as Le antichita' di Ercolano, Mazois' Ruines de Pompei, and the complete (!) Piranesi. Unfortunately, these texts (and illustrations) seem to have been taken off line. Does anyone know if this change is now permanent, or if there is a mirror site?

Pompeii ("Bang Bang (My Lover Shot Me Down)" by Nancy Sinatra)

Take a look at this fabulous video by History Teachers (first seen on Rogue Classicism, along with a bunch of other such videos). Great stuff!

Villa Regina at Boscoreale also at risk of collapse?

If you follow the Italian media then you will know that archaeological sites across the board are liable to collapse at any moment! I have NOT been posting these stories, as you know, because the hysteria is unhelpful and often politically motivated. However, the following interested me, not necessarily because the Villa Regina at Boscoreale is at risk of collapse, but because security for the villa is now provided by UNARMED guards who don't actually enter the site! I didn't know that the guards were armed previously!

Napoli, Ugl, “gli scavi di Boscoreale rischiano il crollo, un’altra Pompei?”

“C’è il rischio di una seconda Pompei”, GUARDA VIDEO a dare l’allarme dopo aver esaminato le condizioni degli scavi di Boscoreale e le infiltrazioni d’acqua sui tetti di Villa Regina, è l’Ugl dopo aver ascoltato le testimonianze e le preoccupazioni di numerosi addetti alla vigilanza che hanno riferito dello stato del sito archeologico alla Soprintendenza.

Quello che spaventa il sindacato è anche la gestione amministrativa della sorveglianza sugli scavi, soprattutto da quando il presidio di guardia che era all’interno è stato sostituito da ronde esterne, che di solito sono custodi disarmati. Questo stato di cose potrebbe mettre in pericolo, secondo l’Ugl, sia le persone che le cose specie se a prendere di mira gli scavi di Boscoreale, dovessero essere dei malintenzionati.

[Source]

Scavi di Pompei: aereo della Finanza effettuerà la mappatura ad infrarossi per scoprire i punti critici

From Il Gazzettino Vesuviano, news that Guardia di Finanzia aeroplanes with infra-red technology are being used to identify water pockets/infiltration that might threaten the ancient structures of Pompeii:

La tecnologia “vola” in soccorso agli Scavi di Pompei. Da due giorni, Guardia di Finanza sta effettuando un monitoraggio aereo dell’intera area archeologica grazie a sofisticati macchinari ad infrarossi, alla ricerca di sacche d’acqua ed infiltrazioni che possano minare in qualche modo gli antichi e delicati edifici pompeiani. La tutela del patrimonio archeologico passa anche per la tecnologia. Dopo il crollo della Schola Armaturarum, al quale sono seguiti sequestri, inchieste e sopralluoghi a terra, la Guardia di Finanza ha deciso di rispondere ad una richiesta del sindaco di Pompei, Claudio D’Alessio. Fino a mercoledì 24, un aereo del Gruppo di Esplorazione Aeromarittima del Comando Operativo Aeronavale della Guardia di Finanza di Pratica di Mare, temporaneamente dislocato presso l’aeroporto di Capodichino, misurerà lo “stato di salute” del suolo dell’area archeologica, messo a dura prova dalle abbondanti precipitazioni atmosferiche. Con missioni quotidiane, un equipaggio di quattro persone, oltre formata dai tecnici della Guardia di Finanza e da una equipe di esperti scientifici della che si occuperà poi della elaborazione dei dati raccolti, partirà dall’aeroporto napoletano e procederà ad un’accurata mappatura del territorio pompeiano utilizzando sofisticati sistemi di telerilevamento all’infrarosso. Una volta effettuati i rilievi ad infrarossi in volo, i dati saranno affidati al Centro di Competenza Regionale “Benecon” della Seconda Università di Napoli che li analizzerà. A coordinare l’operazione di raccolta dati è il colonnello Camillo Passalacqua, Comandante del Gruppo Esplorazione Aeromarittima, che passerà poi i dati all’equipe guidata dal professor Carmine Gambardella della SUN. Alle operazioni in corso danno costante supporto i reparti territoriali ed aerei del Comando Regionale Campania che procederanno, a loro volta, a sviluppare le risultanze concernenti i settori istituzionali di competenza. «L’obiettivo – spiega il colonnello Passalacqua – è effettuare una serie di voli per effettuare una mappatura quanto più accurata possibile. Lo faremo grazie ad un sensore ad infrarossi che riesce a scovare in maniera immediata sacche d’acqua o grosse infiltrazioni in tutti gli edifici. Al progetto di collaborazione scientifica sta partecipando anche la Seconda Università di Napoli che possiede tutti gli strumenti di lettura e ed elaborazione dati e che, probabilmente entro la fine della prossima settimana, ci fornirà tutti i risultati dello screening che saranno consegnati alla Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni archeologici di Napoli e Pompei». A loro, poi, sarà affidato il compito di studiare eventuali opere di consolidamento delle strutture trovate a ridosso di sacche d’acqua oppure colpite da grosse infiltrazioni. A conclusione dei voli di raccolta dati, il personale del Gruppo Esplorazione Aeromarittima effettuerà un ultimo volo di controllo della zona prima di fare ritorno alla base.

FAREWELL POMPEII – HOWDY MENAGERIE

This is interesting: details of how the 'A Day in Pompeii' exhibition was designed for the Western Australian Museum in Perth. Nice to see an exhibition from the other side of the coin, and to appreciate how much work goes into putting these things on.

Bondi, quei commissari e le spese pazze di Pompei

An interesting article yesterday by Giuseppe Mancini that details, among other things, the money spent by Fiori while he was commissario:

Euro 1,500,000 for 'administrative costs' (i.e. salaries of Fiori and his 12 employees)
Euro 955,000 for the multimedia visit to the House of Julius Polybius
Euro 555,000 for the exhibition about the history of the excavations (at the Amphitheatre Gate)
Euro 700,000 for the didactic visit to the House of the Chaste Lovers
Euro 792,000 for kids' activities
Euro 5,000,000 for restorations to the Large Theatre (to enable modern performances)

And the list continues. It makes interesting reading. See the full article here.

While at this point I am thoroughly fed up posting links to articles about the collapse, there is also an interesting article in The Hindu suggesting that the Italian authorities take note of models of heritage organisations like the National Trust in Britain. Worth reading.

Dealing with Decay #2

I recently was given a link to a very interesting video-article about what might be described as the exploration of ruined urban spaces or landscapes (http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2010/10/05/urban-explorers-video-article/). In the context of Miko's practical call to action and Drew's documentation of Schola Armatoria's early life cycle, the theoretical implications of this video for our understanding and use of Pompeii have me fascinated. In brief, these urban explorers are seeking out ruined and abandoned places because of their state of being and because of the state of decay that precipitated it. In this model decay is a generative process, not a thing to be halted and held back, but a "disordering" an "uncivilizing" system in its own right. How to conceive of this? Shall we hold onto the metaphor of progress and call this a "return to nature" or "history in reverse"? Or do we accept the implications of the urban explorers and put decay into the motion of time with us, accept, anticipate and even anxiously await it? And what about the conditions that lead to decay? Neglect. Negligence. Abandonment. Dismantlement.

These questions contextualize our desires for conservation of Pompeii in a unique way. In this context, conservation is antithetical to the natural life cycle of the object. Conservation is artificial life support, the state of suspended animation of the artifact that forestalls the eventual reconstitution of everything with everything else. An honest assessment shows our perspective selfishly supports our ambitions, with arguments for conservation couched in emotional language of damage, loss, and missed opportunity. (Parenthetically, however, honesty should not make the impact of an emotionally charged word [selfish] a reason to stop making such arguments: they are effective and I will continue to make them and accept that I am selfish.)

But perhaps these ideas - decay and conservation - are not antithetical. Indeed, they may have a more synergistic relationship than it appears. For it seems likely that the decay of Pompeii is essential to its appeal. Its ruined condition embodies and performs in physical form the emotions we sell in our calls for conservation. Indeed,would as many people pay to see a facsimile of Pompeii completely reconstructed versus the actual state of the city? Would visiters carve their names on the walls? Take small bits of it for souvenirs? In academia and in politics, it is the process of decay - rushed out of geological or biological time into human time as destructive events - that drives conversation, donation, and policy change. Look at the narrative fallout from the collapse of this one minor, largely ignored and largely restored building (including this narrative).

Is decay such a bad thing (especially of a building that was mostly less than 60 years old)? Can it be, ironically, a catalyst to forestall decay? What, then, happens next?

What do we know about the Schola Armaturarum? #2

Further to Jo’s post “What do we know about the Schola Armaturarum?” I have located an image from my collection of postcards, photos and other ephemera - one, just one, which is itself indicative of the perceived importance of this building.

Postcard produced by R&C (which I think is the Richter and Conti studio out of Naples) number 1004 15, Titled “POMPEI – Nuovi scavi. Schola Juventutis” (reverse in English, French and German) dimensions 137mm x 88mm. Postcard has been used but post stamp is illegible, author of message however dates the card as 19th September 1933.

Reverse/higher resolution scan available on request.

DB

Superintendency staff sign petition against Ministry management of Pompeii

Staff of the Pompeii Superintendency have organized a petition in protest after being criticized over the House of the Gladiators collapsed. Specifically they are upset that the Minister of Culture has blamed Pompeii's technical staff for the collapse, whereas they see it as a result of years of Ministeral interference in the site's management (including the imposition of managers and special commissioners).
You can read the text of the petition here.

Dealing with decay

So the House of the Gladiators has collapsed, and I am an archaeologist working at Pompeii, what does it - professionally - mean to me? After a week of reading about the collapse, looking at the pictures, and discussing it with several people, I spent some time last Friday afternoon to organize my thoughts and writing them down. It resulted in a kind of 'working paper' that I put up on my website. I thought it might be interesting for the Blogging Pompeii community as well. A PDF is available here.
Basically, my perhaps at points slightly provocative argument is that the inevitable (and unstoppable) phenomenon of decay at sites like Pompeii has implications for the way we prioritize our research agenda, and I basically feel that we need to partially stop doing certain things, and start doing certain other things before the data gets lost. Not all of you will necessarily agree with all that I am saying, and, actually, my personal ideas are developing rapidly at this very moment, so I am open to any good arguments, but after all, the key issue is this: it is an problem that - I feel - deserves more open, explicit discussion within the scholarly community, and this seems like the best place to start. We all have our ideas, lets see where we agree and disagree, and how that can help us making sensible decisions.

Question about the House of Marcus Lucretius

Posted originally on Blogging Pompeii's Facebook page by Francis Brenders:

'I try to complete a comprehensive study (40 pages without illustrations) about the house of Marcus Lucretius (IX,3,5/24) but some elements are missing. I could use the information of the site 'Pompeii in pictures' and the photographs in 'Pompei, pitture e mosaici'. Further I used the descriptions of Nicollini and Fiorelli and for the paintings I had the publications of Karl Schefold. I compared all this with the recent literature about the subject and came to certain conclusions about the social status of the house and its owner, the accessability of certain parts and the different layers that are apparent in the complex between public and private.
It would be a great help if I could find some more details about the construction of the different parts of the house to come to a more coherent picture of the chronology.
Is there somebody out there who can help me?'

TV interview with Carandini on Pompeii

Yesterday evening's episode of "Parla con me" included an interview with archaeologist Andrea Carandini on the subject of Pompeii (start watching at 8 minutes in). While obviously talking about the recent collapse of the House of the Gladiators, he also gives his opinions on a wide range of subjects related to the site's management. He was invited in his role of Presidente del Consiglio Superiore dei Beni Culturali i.e. President of the Council for Cultural Heritage which advises the government on heritage matters.

Viewers should note that some of his facts are not necessarily 100% accurate... (e.g. visitor numbers seem wildly exaggerated and we can be sure that Packard is definately not English!)

Recent articles and reviews

From FastiOnline:

209 - William van Andringa. 2010. Le sanctuaire de Fortune Auguste à Pompéi (campagnes 2008 et 2009).

208 - William van Andringa, Thomas Creissen , Carole Chevalier. 2010. Pompéi: Le fulgur conditum de la maison des Quatre Styles, I, 8, 17 (campagne 2008).

Reviews in the new Journal of Roman Studies:

M. BEARD, POMPEII: THE LIFE OF A ROMAN TOWN. London: Profile, 2008. By Joanna Paul.

J. DAEHNER (ed.) THE HERCULANEUM WOMEN. HISTORY, CONTEXT, IDENTITIES. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007. By Shelley Hales.

P. GUZZO and M.-P. GUIDOBALDI (eds) NUOVE RICERCHE ARCHEOLOGICHE NELL’AREA VESUVIANA (SCAVI 2003–2006): ATTI DEL CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE, ROMA, 1–3 FEBBRAIO 2007 (Studi della Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei 25). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 2008. By Virginia L. Campbell.

F. DEMMA, MONUMENTI PUBBLICI DI PUTEOLI. PER’UN ARCHEOLOGIA DELL’ARCHITETTURA (Monografie della rivista “Archeologia Classica”). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 2007. By Matthew Nicholls.

Babesch lecture: Herculaneum - 16 November 2010

Those of you near Leiden might be interested in this event next Tuesday:

The Board of the BABESCH Foundation cordially invites you to The Fourth Annual Byvanck Lecture Tuesday 16 November 2010 at 8.00 PM at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill HERCULANEUM: LIVING WITH CATASTROPHE
	. Herculaneum, which shared the fate of Pompeii in the eruption of Vesuvius, has been the object of a major conservation campaign initiated and funded by Packard Humanities Institute, and directed by the speaker, since 2001. New discoveries made in the course of the project provide dramatic evidence for major geological activity dating back a century before the eruption, and to a long drawn-out catastrophe with which the inhabitants lived. The project also has revealed the extent of catastrophe caused by inadequate conservation and maintenance to a site which offers a unique window on the past.

Source: http://www.babesch.org/byvancklecture2010.html

Review of Faber & Hofmann's Casa del Fauno

Just a short note: I wrote a review of Faber and Hoffman's long awaited (first) book on the House of the Faun for the Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaften which was published today, and I thought it might be of interest to the Blogging Pompeii community. It can be found online here.
In the review I have tried to do justice to the book, acknowledging that a gestation period of fifty years in the end is a handicap rather than a virtue, as the methodologies used then, and the questions asked in the field were different from what is normal nowadays, but also pointing to the relevant role this book still could play in current discussions about Pompeii and its history.

AIA Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Preliminary schedule of sessions

A bunch of papers of particular interest to those of us working in the Bay of Naples (let me know if I've missed any):

SESSION 1A (Friday 7th January, 8.30 - 11.30)
Roman Villas
The Landscapes of the Villa of the Papyri
Mantha Zarmakoupi, Institute for Study of the Ancient World

Is there an Epicurean in this Villa? Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus as Epicurean statesman
Jeff Fish, Baylor University

The Garden of the Villa Arianna at Stabiae
Thomas N. Howe, Southwestern University

The Oplontis Project: New Evidence for the History and Setting of Villa A (Villa of Poppaea) at Torre Annunziata
Michael L. Thomas, The University of Texas at Austin, and John R. Clarke, The University of Texas at Austin

SESSION 2I (Friday 7th January, 12.30 - 2.30)
Poster Session

The Pompeii “Lakshmi”: Misidentification, Miscommunication and Misunderstanding in the Archaeology of Contact
Rick Jones, University of Leeds, UK

SESSION 3E: Colloquium (Friday 7th January, 2.45 - 5.15)
A Breath of Fresco Air: New Approaches to Roman Wall Painting

ORGANIZERS: Mont Allen, University of California, Berkeley, and Stephanie Pearson , University of California

The Spatial and Visual Context of Pompeian Wall Painting
Michael Anderson, San Francisco State University

Isis, Io, and Ovid’s Syrinx: Reading the Narrative Fresco Cycle from the Temple of Isis in Pompeii
Molly Swetnam-Burland, College of William and Mary

An Un-Augustan Understanding of the Third Style
Stephanie Pearson, University of California, Berkeley

Dining with the Mysteries: The Dionysiac Frieze from the Villa of the Mysteries in Context
Seth Estrin, University of California, Berkeley

SESSION 5B (Saturday 8th January, 12.30 - 2.30)
Pompeii

Bakeries in Pompeii: Analogy and Inference
Jared Benton, University of Virginia

The Rise and Reorganization of the Pompeian Salted-Fish Industry
Steven J.R. Ellis, University of Cincinnati

The Pompeii Quadriporticus Project: Methods and Results from the First Season
Eric E. Poehler, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Steven J.R. Ellis, University of Cincinnati.

Sub-Elite Marble Use and Reuse at Pompeii and Herculaneum: The Evidence from the Bars
Simon J. Barker, University of Oxford, J. Clayton Fant, University of Akron, and Benjamin Russell, British School at Rome

Streetside Epiphany for Non-Elites at Pompeii: The Mural of the Twelve Gods on the Via dell’Abbondanza
Jane K. Arney, University of Texas, Austin

SESSION 7A: Colloquium (Sunday 9th January, 8.30 - 11.30)
Villas of the Emperors between Spectacle and Production

Emperors on the Volcano
G. Ferdinando De Simone, Oxford University

The full schedule is here.

I would like to suggest that those of us attending the AIA Annual Meeting meet up for a beer one evening ... Any suggestions about a good time and day?

Review of Vesuviana. Archeologie a confronto. Atti del Convegno Internazionale

From BMCR:

a review by Alexandra Dardenay of Antonella Coralini (ed.), Vesuviana. Archeologie a confronto. Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Bologna, 14-16 gennaio 2008). Bologna: Ante Quem, 2009.

Pompei, fu ignorato l'allarme dei custodi

Claims now that custodians had raised the alarm about the Schola Armaturarum, but had been ignored. In summary, according to this article, there are plans to investigate Fiori's management of Pompeii. And apparently employees of the Soprintendenza have been forbidden to talk to journalists. Finally, reports of further collapses in the House of the Moralist and House of Trebius Valens have been proved false. This is interesting reading.

From La Repubblica:

Pompei, fu ignorato l'allarme dei custodi

Nel brogliaccio dei sorveglianti degli scavi il monito lanciato pochi giorni prima che crollasse la Schola Armaturarum. Ma la segnalazione non fu raccolta

dal nostro inviato STELLA CERVASIO

POMPEI — L’allarme sui gladiatori c’era stato, ma nessuno l’aveva ascoltato. Documento che scotta nel brogliaccio dei custodi, un atto ufficiale che in soprintendenza non è stato raccolto. Dopo il crollo, invece, la Corte dei conti vuole vederci chiaro e apre un’inchiesta sulla gestione del commissario Fiori. Dalle prime indiscrezioni sarebbero almeno due i casi di lavori dati in appalto a ditte in assenza di contratto. 

Pompei si blinda nel giorno dell’audizione di Bondi in Parlamento e alla vigilia di due appuntamenti importanti: l’arrivo della commissione della Camera oggi in soprintendenza alle 12 e alla stessa ora, a Roma, la denuncia del Pd contro la cattiva gestione del sito. Ieri mattina a tutti i dipendenti della soprintendenza è arrivata una circolare che vieta di parlare ai giornalisti. La reazione a una nottata difficile: martedì era arrivata ai carabinieri di Pompei una telefonata anonima che segnalava nuovi crolli alla Casa di Trebio Valente e a quella del Moralista. 

I tecnici della soprintendenza e l’Arma dopo un sopralluogo avevano smentito la voce e il ministro Bondi ha disposto di denunciare chi ha dato la notizia infondata per “procurato allarme”. A cadere è stato infatti solo un muretto grezzo nel triclinio di Trebio Valente. Nessun crollo neanche per la Casa del Moralista, ha ceduto un muro della bottega adiacente alla domus, quella del vasaio Zosimus, che dà sul vicolo di Ifigenia, ma i tecnici ne avevano già preso atto. La Procura ha disposto di allargare l’area del sequestro: oltre alla zona del crollo, anche l’area di Trebio Valente e della bottega della Domus del Moralista, a monte delle quali sono in corso lavori per convogliare le acque piovane e dei campi coltivati. 

Tutto questo prova che non ci sarebbero altri edifici a rischio. Ma parti di questi, sì. E i più seri li corrono i muri di contenimento, dove manca la manutenzione ordinaria. Tutti indicano anche i solai di copertura di alcune insulae: dalla Casina dell’Aquila, punto più alto degli Scavi, alcuni sono rifatti, altri no. Casi che il monitoraggio quotidiano della sorveglianza ha ben presenti. E che anche nel caso del muro nel vicolo di Ifigenia, di fianco alla Schola Armaturarum, era stato segnalato.

Proprio a questo proposito c’è una pagina interessante del “Registro delle relazioni dei custodi”, un brogliaccio quotidiano su cui sono scritte le segnalazioni dopo ognuna delle otto ispezioni che i sorveglianti effettuano ogni giorno a Pompei, casa per casa, aprendole con il pesante mazzo di chiavi in possesso di ognuno. Alla data del 3 novembre, tre giorni prima che crollasse lo “showroom” di trofei dei gladiatori, sul registro protocollato che il direttore degli Scavi dovrebbe vedere ogni mattina, è annotato “il crollo di un muro lungo dieci metri nel vicolo di Ifigenia”. 

C’è la firma del custode che ha rilevato il danno. Prima il direttore siglava la segnalazione e affidava ad assistenti la verifica del danno, stabilendo se si poteva ovviare in tempi brevi o era necessaria una perizia. «Da quando i soprintendenti si susseguono a ritmi frenetici, i direttori devono anche sostituirli — spiegano i dipendenti dell’area archeologica — e nell’ufficio su agli Scavi che fu quello di Giuseppe Fiorelli e dei suoi successori, non mettono più piede». Impossibile quindi raccogliere l’appello di chi aveva visto il muro crollato a pochi metri da dove tre giorni dopo avrebbe ceduto l’intero edificio della Schola Armaturarum «restaurata — dicono sempre in soprintendenza — non più tardi di sei mesi fa». 

A testimoniarlo, una foto estiva di Google View in ritardo di qualche mese con l’aggiornamento. Qui, sulla facciata dell’Armeria dei gladiatori, si vede un tabellone di lavori in corso. Lavori che non sono serviti a evitare il disastro. Ed è su questi ed altri interventi che la Corte dei conti indaga, dopo la pronuncia dell’agosto scorso di dubbio sulle emergenze per cui la gestione di Pompei è stata affidata alla Protezione civile.

Live Aid for Pompeii!

Speechless (but would like a ticket!)

Roma - (Adnkronos) - "Mi piacerebbe che artisti italiani e internazionali si unissero per organizzare un evento che aiuti a reperire fondi per la salvaguardia degli scavi di Pompei. Sarebbe bello se qualcuno riuscisse ad organizzare un 'Live Aid' per Pompei, magari quanto tornerà la bella stagione, in primavera o estate prossima". A lanciare l'idea di un concertone per Pompei è Gigi D'Alessio che, in un'intervista all'Adnkronos, si dice "profondamente intristito dalla notizia del crollo della Domus Gladiatori". Icona della musica napoletana neomelodica, D'Alessio è legatissimo alla sua terra e non è contento che se ne parli in tutto il mondo ultimamente "solo per i rifiuti o per il crollo di Pompei".

"Purtroppo - aggiunge D'Alessio - la crisi impone a tutti di fare i conti con minori disponibilità da parte dello Stato anche per l'immenso patrimonio culturale italiano e mi piacerebbe che il mondo artistico italiano ed internazionale si unisse per fare qualcosa a favore degli scavi archeologici di Pompei, che sono una meraviglia che tutto il pianeta ammira e ci invidia.Io credo che si potrebbe fare una grande cosa con il ritorno della bella stagione a favore di una rinascita di Pompei", conclude il musicista partneopeo che quest'inverno sarà impegnato in un tour che lo porterà anche oltreoceano e che dovrebbe prendere il via il 14 febbraio dal Radio City Music Hall di New York. "Porterò in America i suoni di Napoli e magari quella sarà l'occasione per coinvolgere qualche collega della scena internazionale in un'iniziativa da realizzare nei mesi estivi in Italia", conclude.

[Source]

'Ruins of Pompeii Disintegrating'. And that was 1955!

'Ruins of Pompeii Disintegrating'. Sound familiar? Yet this is a headline from the New York Times in 1955!

A big thank you to Martin Conde for sending in this link to old newspaper articles he has collected about the condition of Pompeii. Take a look at them - there are reports every few years about the terrible condition of Pompeii.

Martin's collection is a work in progress. Here the reference:

Martin G. Conde, 'The Problems Relating to the Management & Excavations of the Archaeological Ruins of Herculaneum / Pompeii as Reported in Foreign Press: The New York Times, The Times (London) & The Washington Post (1904-2002).' [In progress]


This is Martin's blog: Rome – The Imperial Fora: Archaeological News.

Pompeii to get foundation after Gladiator School collapse

From Ansa.it:

Pompeii to get foundation after Gladiator School collapse

Culture minister rejects calls to resign

(ANSA) - Rome, November 10 - The government is to set up a new foundation for Pompeii after the weekend collapse of its famous Gladiator School, Culture Minister Sandro Bondi said Wednesday.

Rejecting calls that he should resign over the incident, Bondi claimed he had done a "good job" on Pompeii in appointing special officials for its upkeep.

"The collapse of one building can't wipe out the work we have done over the past two years".

But he acknowledged more needed to be done and announced a new foundation where the culture ministry would work with experts to better use the money that comes from millions of visitors.

"The problem is in the management, not in resources," he told parliament, saying the ancient site brought an average of more than 50 million euros ($70 million) a year. "We need management that uses the resources better".

"Therefore, the ministry is drafting guidelines for a Pompeii Foundation; the superintendents and culture minister managers must work together".

The new body, Bondi said, would "assess the state of decay" all over the ancient city and decide what action to take. Work would resume on five Pompeii houses including the famous Villa of the Mysteries "in the next few days", he said, denying reports that two other houses were damaged when the Gladiator School came down on Saturday morning.

The reports were a sign of "groundless alarm", Bondi said. The centre-left opposition was not impressed by the minister's report and the two main groups, the Democratic Party and Italy of Values (IdV), announced a no-confidence motion aimed at bringing him down.

"Bondi has done more damage than Vesuvius," the IdV claimed.

COLLAPSE SPURRED FRESH FEARS, POLEMICS.

The collapse of the school earned headlines worldwide and rekindled claims the 2,000-year-old site is not being properly protected.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called the incident a "disgrace" for Italy.

Institutions and art experts worldwide said the conservation of the UNESCO World Heritage site was not being adequately funded.

British author Robert Harris, author of the 2003 global bestseller 'Pompeii', published a plea in Rome daily La Repubblica asking for more to be done.

Harris said he was "not surprised" at the collapse and argued that the right of visitors to see the site's wonders should be balanced with conservation needs.

"We are faced with a paradox: the more people visit Pompeii, the more Pompeii is destroyed".

In his report, Bondi said that water infiltration from heavy rains dealt a killer blow to the school, which was precarious because a 1950 restoration "wrongly" put reinforced concrete on the roof, making it "inevitable" that it would buckle under the weight.

The minister reaffirmed his confidence that famous frescoes giving insights into gladiators' lives may have survived the crash.

Polemics about looting, stray dogs and structural decay have dogged Pompeii in recent years and the government appointed a special commissioner who has been credited with solving some of these problems since 2008.

Every year over two million people visit Pompeii, which was smothered in lava and ash by the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Pompeii and Herculaneum compared

A very interesting article by Giuseppe Mancini, comparing the administration of Pompeii and Herculaneum:

Non servono i manager, come dice Bondi, ma un sovrintendente titolare

Pompei, Ercolano e le litanie del ministro

di Giuseppe Mancini

La sfacciata testardaggine di Bondi è davvero fastidiosa. Di fronte al crollo della Schola Armaturarum di Pompei, invece di prendere atto del fallimento della sua politica dei commissariamenti orientati al marketing, il ministro ha di nuovo snocciolato imperterrito la sua litania: serve un piano straordinario di manutenzione, servono i manager, serve una fondazione per Pompei. No, il ministro sbaglia: quello che serve è un sovrintendente titolare – che per volere di Bondi a Pompei manca da più di un anno – e dotato di maggiori poteri. Servono la normalità e gli archeologi, non una fondazione in cui magari piazzare amici e protetti. 

Prova ne è l'Herculaneum Conservation Project per gli scavi di Ercolano, citato ieri dallo stesso Bondi come esempio virtuoso di collaborazione tra pubblico e privato, reso possibile dall'autonomia di cui gode la sovrintendenza (che raggruppa i siti vesuviani, Napoli, i Campi flegrei) e dalle norme del codice Urbani sulle sponsorizzazioni; oltre che da un progetto organico, da una formidabile équipe multidisciplinare di tecnici – tra cui molti giovani – guidata congiuntamente da Maria Paola Guidobaldi e Jane Thompson, da fondi cospicui – fino ad adesso 15 milioni di euro – messi a disposizione da un privato. Non da uno sponsor a caccia di “ritorni d'immagine”, ma dal Packard Humanities Institute presieduto da David W. Packard: una fondazione che svolge un ruolo attivo e propositivo per lo studio e la conservazione del patrimonio culturale. 

Un protocollo d'intesa siglato nel 2001 col sovrintendente Pietro Giovanni Guzzo ha dato vita a una prima fase triennale di studi, di rilievi, di esperimenti per meglio cogliere le specificità dei problemi che mettevano a rischio la conservazione delle domus e delle altre strutture della città antica; e simultaneamente sono stati messi in atto degli interventi di consolidamento e restauro della massima urgenza, con il finanziamento da parte del Packard Humanities Institute che arrivava a lavori conclusi, un rimborso dopo il collaudo. 

La svolta è arrivata nel 2004, quando il nuovo codice dei beni culturali e paesaggistici voluto dal ministro Urbani ha finalmente permesso un coinvolgimento diretto di enti non statali nella gestione dei beni culturali. Grazie a un contratto di sponsorizzazione, la British School ha potuto operare in tutta autonomia, sotto la supervisione della sovrintendenza, incaricandosi direttamente dei lavori e assumendo il personale specializzato di cui aveva bisogno: utilizzando gli stanziamenti del Packard Humanities Institute per realizzare un programma ambizioso di restauro e conservazione nelle aree a rischio di tutto il sito, sia sulle strutture archeologiche sia sugli apparati decorativi. E la città antica sta tornando a risplendere.

Gli orientamenti decisivi di questo programma, secondo Maria Paola Guidobaldi e Jane Thompson, sono essenzialmente tre: rendere Herculaneum più facile e meno costoso da gestire attraverso interventi mirati e sistemici sulle infrastrutture, cruciali per ridurre le maggiori cause del degrado (accessi, scarpate, fognature antiche, nuove coperture); assicurare con continuità la manutenzione, guardando quindi al lungo periodo; sperimentare nuove metodologie per la conservazione, da esportare anche in altri contesti archeologici – così da trasformare Ercolano in aula e laboratorio a cielo aperto. Ormai, anche questa seconda fase si è conclusa, l'emergenza è stata se non superata almeno arginata. 

La fase tre, ufficializzata da un nuovo contratto firmato nell'agosto del 2009, è una sorta di exit strategy. Il Packard Humanities Institute assumerà un ruolo più defilato, essenzialmente di progettazione e ricerca, per concentrarsi su azioni soprattutto di valorizzazione: la trasformazione dei confini del sito in una suggestiva passeggiata archeologica aperta a tutti, riqualificando via Mare e corso Resina nell'ambito di un programma europeo; il ripristino dell'antica spiaggia oggi allagata e inaccessibile, con un percorso ininterrotto che darà accesso ai calchi degli scheletri dei fuggiaschi morti sulla spiaggia, conservati nei fornici (ricoveri per barche e magazzini dell'epoca); forse nuovi scavi, come quello della Basilica Noniana sotto la scarpata occidentale, e un nuovo e avveniristico museo. La sovrintendenza, infatti, è ormai in grado di affrontare da sola le necessarie attività di manutenzione: e a questo fine, a febbraio, è stato deciso dall'ex sovrintendente Maria Rosaria Salvatore uno stanziamento annuale di un milione di fondi ordinari. 

Peccato che oggi quei fondi non ci siano più, perché la gestione rapace di Marcello Fiori ha spazzato via tutto: tutto per il marketing pacchiano a Pompei, niente per la manutenzione programmata a Ercolano. Evidentemente il ministro Bondi, perso tra le sue litanie, non ne è stato informato. 

Source: Ffwebmagazine

Photomosaic of Region III, Insula 3 before the collapse

This image of Regio III, Insula 3 created by Jennifer and Arthur Stephens as part of the Via dell'Abbondanza Project (www.pompeiiperspectives.org), shows the Schola Armaturarum (doorway 6, on the right) as it appeared in 2009.  The photomosaic was made by combining multiple digital images and a total station survey of the facade of the city block.  The completed photomosaics are at a scale of 1:25 @ 300 ppi.  The project is documenting all 32 insulae along the 900 meter-long street for the archives in Pompeii and future publication.


Click on the image to enlarge.

Collapse statement

There is now an official statement on the collapse - on the PompeiViva website
www.pompeiviva.it/pv/it/communicatistampa/1199904878179.htm

Comunicato Stampa - MiBAC

Dichiarazione del Segretario Generale Roberto Cecchi

Alle prime ore di questa mattina, a Pompei in via dell’Abbondanza si è verificato il crollo del solaio in calcestruzzo armato che ricopriva la Schola Armaturarum e di larga parte delle murature perimetrali .
L’edificio è da sempre chiuso al pubblico ed è visibile solo dall’esterno.
L’area è stata immediatamente transennata a cura dei funzionari e degli impiegati della Sovrintendenza di Pompei e si sta provvedendo ad una serie di puntellamenti che interessano anche la parte dell’edificio adiacente.
La Schola è costituita da un unico locale rettangolare di circa m. 8x10 e alto 6 metri. Verosimilmente – ma si tratta di accertamenti in corso - il crollo ha interessato le murature verticali ricostruite, mentre parrebbe essersi conservata la parte più bassa, per un’altezza di circa m. 1,50. E cioè, la parte che ospita le decorazioni affrescate, che quindi si ritiene che potrebbero essere recuperate.
La Schola era stata bombardata nel corso della Seconda Guerra mondiale.
Alla fine degli anni Quaranta, era stato restaurata completando della parte superiore delle murature e rifacendo la copertura.
Allo stato degli accertamenti appena svolti, il dissesto che ha provocato il crollo parrebbe imputabile ad uno smottamento provocato del terrapieno che si trova a ridosso della costruzione e che per effetto delle abbondanti piogge di questi giorni era completamente imbibito d’acqua.
Il crollo del tetto ha determinato la distruzione di parte delle murature, della facciata e dello spigolo dell’abitazione nell’ insula adiacente.
Si è provveduto a chiudere al pubblico un breve tratto di Via dell’Abbondanza in corrispondenza del crollo, poiché le macerie ostruiscono parzialmente la via, e a puntellare alcune strutture pericolanti.
Questo ennesimo caso di dissesto ripropone il tema della tutela del patrimonio culturale e quindi della necessità di disporre di risorse adeguate e di provvedere a quella manutenzione ordinaria che non facciamo più da almeno mezzo secolo.
La cura di un patrimonio delle dimensioni di quello di Pompei e di quello nazionale non lo si può affidare ad interventi episodici ed eclatanti. La soluzione è la cura quotidiana, come si è iniziato a fare per l’area archeologica centrale di Roma e per la stessa Pompei.

08/11/2010

Pompeii takes on a contemporary meaning

Following the collapse of the House of the Gladiators, Pompeii has become a subject of discussion around the world, with particular attention naturally being paid in Italy. This blog has given links to various newspaper articles that have covered the story, but can't hope to show the huge coverage given on various TV news programmes and talk shows. I've seen journalists asking the Minister of Culture, Bondi if he feels responsable for the collapse and if he's going to resign over it (he replied no to both), and the President of the Republic, Napolitano has taken a personal interest in the question - what happened and what needs to be done. Images of the collapse have formed the backdrop to discussions about politics.

Interestingly for some the disaster at Pompeii has become a metaphor for the state of the nation, where more attention is being paid to TV dancing girls than investing in caring for our cultural heritage. Comparisons are being drawn between the extraordinary amounts of money that politicians earn and spend (as detailed, for example, in the book La Casta), and the continual cuts that have been made to culture over the years.

The Pompeii metaphor was extended even further in last night's edition of "Vieni via con me" (a new programme offering political and cultural commentary) where various lists were read out that shed light on Italy and the Italians - one was "Categories of prostitutes who worked at Pompeii before the AD79 eruption" (if you click on this link you'll find the Pompeii list among the others which are equally interesting). The final category was implicitly linked to recent scandals whereby prime minister Berlusconi has been accused of hosting parties at his estate with prostitutes and escorts and reveals how Pompeii continues to provide food for thought in the modern world:

"Delicatae and Famosae: cultured, classy, the most refined women, they often prosituted themselves to influence politics through their powerful clients..."

What do we know about the Schola Armaturarum?

Predictably there has been a lot of hysteria in the media about yesterday's collapse of the Schola Armaturarum, including calls for the privatisation of the archaeological site of Pompeii, and accusations of official neglect. The following are just a few of the reports that have appeared:

NY Times: Pompeii Collapse Draws Charges of Official Neglect
La Repubblica: An interview with ex-Superintendent of Pompeii, Pier Giovanni Guzzo (audio in Italian, with completely irrelevant video) and before and after photos.
BBC News: House of the Gladiators collapses in Pompeii (with video)
ANSA: Pompei: Bondi, se responsabile lascerei
NY Daily News: Ancient Pompeii gladiators' locker room collapses; Italians angered by neglect of Roman ruins
The Telegraph: Pompeii ruin collapses amid claims site mismanaged

There are many, many others. Apparently some commentators have even been using the collapse to justify private collections (since, it is argued, the Italian authorities can't look after their heritage themselves). And this illustrates nicely how the collapse is being milked for political purposes of all sorts.

But I don't want to get on my soapbox about this (really!), except to say that the job of conservation at Pompeii is an endless battle and that I believe the people who work there do their best with the resources they have.

Instead I want to focus on the Schola Armaturarum and its excavation. Eighteen months ago Francesca Tronchin posted a query about recent research on this building, and the illustration below.

Illustration of the Schola Armaturarum in Spinazzola's 1953 publication of the Via dell' Abbondanza

Rereading this - and reading all the newspaper reports about the collapse - got me thinking about how little I know about this particular structure. And so I want to suggest that we do a bit of collective research and information gathering about it. The authorities may reconstruct the building itself, but the frescoes are gone and the only way to study them now will be from archival sources (although in fact the frescoes were already in a terrible condition). I think it would be helpful to collect references to this material now.

The Schola Armaturarum was mainly excavated in 1915 by Vittorio Spinazzola. Its stunning facade frescos led him to partly excavate the building, as can be seen in the plan below (adapted from Dobbins and Foss, World of Pompeii). But his main focus was on excavating the Via dell' Abbondanza, and it is this that is now causing problems - the unexcavated land behind the northern facades of the streets is collapsing into the street, aided by heavy rainfalls. Other reported collapses at Pompeii in the past two years are from the same general area (House of Julius Polybius, House of the Chaste Lovers, and further along the Via dell'Abbondanza in Region III). This needs to be a major focus of future conservation work, or more collapses are inevitable.

I still haven't been able to answer Francesca's query about recent bibliography, but the following are studies of the building that I do know about:

• Spinazzola's initial report on the building and its frescoes was published in the NSC (and can thus be read on-line) in 1916: Di due grandi trofei dipinti rimessi a luce nella Via dell' Abbondanza e di una sala decorata di pitture di Vittorie volante, Notizie degli Scavi di Antichita (1916) 429 - 450.  There are some references to the building in the 1915 NSC reports by Matteo della Corte.
• Spinazzola's definitive publication of his excavations along the Via dell'Abbondanza: Pompeii Alla Luce Degli Scavi Nuovi Di Via Dell' Abbondanza (Anni 1910-1923) Rome, 1953'
• Matteo della Corte discusses the building in his Iuventus: un nuovo aspetta della vita pubblica di Pompei finora inesplorato (1924).
• Robert Etienne questioned the identification of the building as a Schola Iuventutis in his Daily Life in Ancient Pompeii (1966) 409 - 411.
• Luciana Jacobelli gives a description of the building and its frescoes in her Gladiators at Pompeii (2003)
• There is detailed discussion of the building (with some great photos, which can be viewed on the Google Books scan of the book) in Laurentino Garcia y Garcia's Danni di Guerra a Pompei (Rome, 2006). During WW2 a bomb destroyed the reconstructed roof of the building; it was rebuilt in the 1950s.

According to Jacobelli, the Schola Armaturarum was built after AD 62 on the remains of an earlier building. Della Corte thought it was a kind of school for Pompeii's youth, but Jacobelli claims that 'more recently it has been hypothesised that it was a depository of gladiatorial arms'. She doesn't give details about this recent study - does anyone know what she's referring to? In the back room there was evidence that wooden cabinets had been fixed to the walls. These are thought to have contained weaponry - but in actual fact only a single ivory handle was found by the excavators. The walls behind the cabinets were painted with Winged Victories bearing  weapons and shields - which is why the building is now connected to gladiators. Personally I think the jury is still out on that one, but this was certainly a distinctive and unusual building which must have had a particular function. Does anyone else have any thoughts or theories?

Can anyone add any information to my summary? Or does anyone have any photos of the building before its collapse? Post them to the blog, or send them to me to bloggingpompeii@gmail.com (I will forward them to Pompeiana.org and PompeiiinPictures).

Collapse at III.3.6

On examining the photographs of the collapse and comparing these with those on pompeiiinpictures, we would like to make these observations.

Sen. Bondi says some of the frescoes may have been preserved, but the damage is worse than the WWII bombing which, according to Garcia y Garcia in Danni di Guerra a Pompei (one of our favourite Pompeii books), demolished the west perimeter wall and his pictures show the front pilasters of III.3.6 still reasonably intact. We hope Sen. Bondi is correct.

The side wall of III.4.1 on the opposite side of the Vicolo di Ifigenia has also been taken out by the collapse of III.3.6. The new iron railings of III.4.1 have been mangled at that end including the POMPEIIVIVA logo.
It looks as if the south end of the niche of III.4.1 been lost too.

The pilaster paintings of Venus Anadyomene and of Bacchus and Mercury from the entrance façade of II.1.12 Complesso dei Riti magici, which were stored here "for safety", are at best under the rubble and, being only very thin, looked fragile enough to have probably been destroyed also.

Two walls at the rear of the insulae next to the unexcavated areas have now collapsed "following heavy rain". The photos of this latest collapse also show the difference in height of the unexcavated area to the north of the Via dell'Abbondanza and it is clear that any rain on the upper areas has only one way to go.

Is it now time the entire insulae on the north side of the Via dell'Abbondanza were excavated back to another street, and a drainage solution incorporated to safeguard from any further collapses?

Jackie and Bob at pompeiiinpictures

Collapse news

Hi all,

hate waking up to news like this.

News of the collapse has reached overseas press with AP Canada running this story.
They report the house as the Schola Armaturarum Juventis Pompeiani.

Italian officials say ancient house used by gladiators in Pompeii has collapsed
By The Associated Press (CP)

ROME — A 2,000-year-old house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was once used by gladiators to train before combat, collapsed Saturday, officials said.

The site was closed at the time and nobody was injured, but the collapse underscored a controversy over the poor state of Pompeii, one of Italy's main tourist attractions.

The office of Pompeii's archaeological superintendent said the collapse occurred Saturday at around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT). Attendants opening the site saw the collapse about an hour later.

The house, called by the Latin name "Schola Armaturarum Juventis Pompeiani," was closed to the public, and could only be seen from the outside, and it was not considered at risk of collapse, officials said.

Situated on Pompeii's main street, the site was quickly cordoned off.

Antonio Varone, director of Pompeii's excavations, told the ANSA news agency that officials were trying to "preserve up to the last fragment of the 'Schola Armaturarum.'"

There was no official word on possible causes. News reports said water infiltration following heavy rains in the past days might be the cause.

The 430-square-foot (40-square-meter) space was used by gladiators to train before going to fight in a nearby amphitheatre, as well as by other athletes. It was also a storehouse for weapons and armour.

Pompeii was destroyed in A.D. 79 by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius that killed thousands of people and buried the city in 20 feet (six meters) of volcanic ash. But the ash also helped preserve Pompeii's treasures, providing precious information about what life was like in the ancient world.

The gladiators' house was believed to have been built near the end of Pompeii's life. It was partially destroyed during World War II, and the roof and some of the walls had been rebuilt.

The Culture Minister, Sandro Bondi, said some frescoes on the lower walls may have been preserved.

Italy has long grappled with its vast cultural and archaeological heritage, amid chronic shortage of funds, negligence and vandalism. Officials have had difficulty preserving Pompeii, which is visited by over 2 million people every year.

Only last month, Italy's most influential paper, Corriere della Sera, ran an editorial headlined "The humiliation of Pompeii" in which it said the cement works were damaging the ruins and that the last commissioner had ended his mandate in June.

Bondi called for greater funds for Pompeii, while the opposition was quick to blame the government.

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Collapse in the House of the Gladiators

Sigh, these stories are becoming too frequent ... News from ANSA.it of a collapse in the House of the Gladiators, and initial reports are bad:

POMPEI: CROLLATA INTERA DOMUS GLADIATORI, NON SOLO MURO

NAPOLI, 6 NOV - Non e' crollato solo un muro ma l'intera Domus dei Gladiatori, cosi' chiamata perche' al suo interno si allenavano gli atleti nell'antica Pompei. Il crollo, secondo primi accertamenti, e' avvenuto intorno alle ore 6 ed e' stato notato dai custodi appena arrivati al lavoro verso le ore 7.30. L'area al momento e' transennata e non e' possibile accedere. La Domus e' sulla via principale, via dell'Abbondanza, quella maggiormente percorsa dai turisti, in direzione Porta Anfiteatro. Predisposto un percorso alternativo per i tanti turisti.

Is anyone out there at the moment? Can you post photos?

UPDATE: Another article, with photos, here. It looks like the entire house has collapsed.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Another report claims it is the schola armaturarum that has collapsed, not the House of the Gladiators. There's another photo here.

More photos here.

Tourist guides protest

A whole bunch of articles this morning about protests being made by tourist guides at Pompeii. To cut a long story short, it seems that the new Superintendent Jeanette Papadopoulos has cut the funds given to the private agency that runs the ticket offices at Pompeii, citing unprofessional behaviour and intimidation of tourists. Local tourist agencies are protesting. Here are some links to the story:

Pompei. Bocciata la proposta di dare continuità al servizio Guide turistiche.
Scavi di Pompei, riesplode la «guerra» delle guide turistiche

Scavi di Pompei: guide turistiche in stato di agitazione

Articles on FastiOnline

New articles published on FastiOnline:

205 - Mario Grimaldi. 2010. Nuove decorazioni parietali dalla casa di Marco Fabio Rufo e dalla villa imperiale.

204 - Mario Grimaldi, Maria Luigia Fatibene, Luana Pisano, Alessandro Russo. 2010. Nuovi scavi nel giardino della casa di Marco Fabio Rufo a Pompei (VII, 16, Insula occidentalis 22).

New Director General for Antiquities

The Italian Ministry of Culture has announced some new appointments, including the new Director General for Antiquities (this translates as the top post overseeing archaeological heritage). Stefano De Caro is now retired and the new Director is Luigi Malnati, formerly superintendent for Emilia-Romagna. While there has been no other information on the subject, this position is key in the constantly evolving heritage system - which has clear impacts on the management of Pompeii and the other Vesuvian sites.

Italian museums protest cuts with closures on 12 November 2010

In order to protest proposed cuts to museum, many will close for the day on Friday 12 November 2010. Perhaps best to check before visiting the Vesuvian sites or museums.

An article from La Repubblica can be found here.

Excavation Reports Online

As a follow up to Jeremy's post last year about online access to the Notizie degli Scavi, you can also find the Notizie here:

http://periodici.librari.beniculturali.it/

Also useful runs of various other journals, such as Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma etc.

This may be old news for some, but thought it would be worth sharing as I only stumbled across it by accident yesterday.

Red-faced academic over Pompeii donkey

From Cambridge-News.co.uk:

An academic at Cambridge University has been left long-faced after discovering a mystery breed of Roman horse found at Pompeii was none other than a donkey.

Experts initially believed that they had unearthed a new, now-extinct breed of horse when they analysed DNA sequences from skeletons found at a house in the ancient Roman town in 2004.

But the idea fell at the first hurdle when scrutinised by Cambridge’s Susan Gurney, who is working with Peter Forster on horse genetics.

She realised there had been a mix-up in the lab, which resulted in horse DNA being combined with that of a donkey to create an artificial hybrid.

Mrs Gurney, from the university’s Institute of Continuing Education, said: “Looking at the research with hindsight, it’s possible to recognise two separate strands of horse and donkey DNA.

“In addition, the horse DNA that appears to have been inadvertently mixed in with the donkey’s genetic information is the same type as that found in another Herculaneum horse, which might be the source of the mistake.”

The original study six years ago analysed the skeletons of equids – animals in the horse family – that belonged to a rich Roman household in Pompeii.

All five were well preserved by the volcanic ash which covered the town and the nearby settlement of Herculaneum when Vesuvius erupted in AD79.

Mrs Gurney found that the first 177 nucleotides – molecules which form the structural units of a DNA sequence – match existing patterns for donkeys. The remaining 193 nucleotides match those of an existing breed of horse.

However, the research could still prove important. The Cambridge experts believe the newly-identified donkey may well be the first proof that the “Somali” ass lineage normally found in Italy dates back to at least Roman times.

In other European countries, donkeys are often descended from the Nubian lineage instead.

Anyone know which house these donkeys were found in?

Horse racing in ancient Pompeii

Over the weekend the Mayor of Pompei announced his new idea for holding horse races within the archaeological site. Similar initiatives (including building film sets) have been proposed by the town council over the years in an attempt to increase visitor numbers (and therefore - in theory - to increase spend of the tourist dollar in the modern town of Pompei, although the link between the two has not been demonstrated). These have generally been turned down in the past by the Soprintendenza as not being appropriate for the ancient city or compatible with its conservation (although some have been accepted: e.g. wine growing in some gardens). Sadly a lack of real dialogue between the local council and the heritage authority, nor any real understanding of how to make tourism at the Vesuvian sites sustainable (i.e. economically profitable to the wider local community while not damaging the heritage resources) means that there continues to be huge press coverage over such issues that blame the Soprintendenza for being uncooperative. Surely the question is not how to attract more visitors (2.5 million people pound the site each year already - is a Roman city not enough on its own?), but how to encourage them to stay in the area longer by offering more quality accommodation, restaurants, shops and other attractions, instead of visitors running scared to the perceived safe haven of Rome or Sorrento after a day in Pompeii.

Anyway, enough personal opinions - you can read more about the Mayor's plans in the newspaper Il Mattino and even vote on whether you think horse racing through the ancient city is a good idea or not.

Visitor numbers up at Pompeii

The Ministry of Culture has announced that visitor numbers are up at Pompeii:

Pompei, continua ad essere la meta turistica di italiani e stranieri 66.71 % nel week-end della festività di Ognissanti, 9% nel mese di ottobre

Although no one seems to be questioning if increased visitor numbers is actually of benefit to the site or the surrounding community...

BMCR Books Received (October, 2010)

BMCR have just sent out their October list of books available for review, and it includes the following:

Antoni, Agathe , Graziano Arrighetti, M. Isabella Bertagna and Daniel Delattre (edd.). Miscellanea papyrologica Herculanensia, volumen I. Biblioteca di studi antichi 93. Pisa; Roma: Fabrizio Serra editore, 2010. 335 p. € 145.00 (pb). ISBN 9788862271851.

De Simone, Girolamo F. and Roger T. Macfarlane (edd.). Apolline Project Vol. 1: studies on Vesuvius' north slope and the Bay of Naples. Quaderni della ricerca scientifica: serie beni culturali 14. Naples; Provo, UT: Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa; Brigham Young University, 2009. 380 p. (pb). ISBN 9788896055007.

If you are interested in reviewing either of these, see the instructions here.

Online publication of the Thesaurus Herculanensium Voluminum

This via AWOL (Ancient World Online):

Online publication of the Thesaurus Herculanensium Voluminum (www.thvproject.it)

The International Centre for the Study of the Herculaneum Papyri "Marcello Gigante" and the Chair of Classical Philology I of the University of Würzburg announce the online publication of the Thesaurus Herculanensium Voluminum (www.thvproject.it), edited by Gianluca Del Mastro. The Thesaurus is a free search engine of the texts of the Herculaneum Papyri collection; currently there are 15 texts available for consultation, but many others are in preparation and will be included soon. users who wish to contribute new readings of the texts already available in the database, should request a password from info@cispe.org.

ll Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi “Marcello Gigante” e la Cattedra di Filologia Classica I dell’Università di Würzburg annunciano la pubblicazione on line del Thesaurus Herculanensium Voluminum (www. thvproject.it), curato da Gianluca Del Mastro, attraverso il quale è possibile effettuare ricerche sui testi contenuti nei Papiri Ercolanesi. Attualmente è consultabile il testo di circa 15 papiri e molti altri saranno presto inseriti. Tutti gli utenti che desiderano ottenere una password per inserire nuove letture ai testi già consultabili, possono richiederla all’indirizzo info@cispe. org.

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Lehrstuhl für Klassische Philologie I der Universität Würzburg hat das Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi den Thesaurus Herculanensium Voluminum (THV) erstellt (www.thvproject.it). Der Plan dafür stammt von Gianluca Del Mastro. Der Thesaurus stellt eine Reihe von Suchmöglichkeiten über den Texten der herkulanischen Papyri zur Verfügung. Im Moment stehen rund 15 Papyri zur Verfügung; die Eingabe der Texte von Philodems Rhetorik und weiterer kleinerer Texte ist in Arbeit. Mittels eines Passwortes können registrierte Benutzer direkt eigene Neulesungen und Ergänzungsvorschläge eintragen. Registrierung und Passwort können unter der Adresse info@cispe.org beantragt werden.

Scavi di Pompei, vendemmia 2010

The grapes have been harvested from the vineyards within the excavations of Pompeii. It's been a good year apparently, but I bet normal people won't be able to afford to buy a bottle ... This from the SANP:

Venerdì 29 ottobre al via il taglio delle uve di Pompei per la vendemmia 2010, che produrranno il pregiato vino Villa dei Misteri, ormai all’undicesima edizione.

Il raccolto di quest’anno, che ha beneficiato dalle favorevoli condizioni climatiche locali, si annuncia abbondante e di ottima qualità.

Gli aggiornamenti di quest’anno saranno illustrati venerdì 29 ottobre presso il vigneto delle Fontane a mosaico, alle ore 11,00 dalla d.ssa Annamaria Ciarallo, responsabile del Laboratorio di Ricerche Applicate della Soprintendenza. 

L’esperimento nato nel 1994, su un’area limitata degli scavi , grazie agli studi di botanica applicata all’archeologia condotti dal Laboratorio di Ricerche Applicate e alla collaborazione con l’azienda vitivinicola campana Mastoberardino, oggi interessa tutte le aree a vigneto della Regio I e II dell’antica Pompei, per un’estensione di circa due ettari ripartiti su 10 appezzamenti di diversa estensione e per una produzione di circa 50 quintali per ettaro.

Il vino Villa dei Misteri, della qualità piedirosso e sciascinoso, rappresenta soprattutto un modo per raccontare e far conoscere Pompei con la sua cultura e la sua tradizione antica e quale elemento di valorizzazione e al tempo stesso di difesa del territorio, del paesaggio e dell’ambiente.

I vigneti di Pompei, si propongono inoltre come itinerario alternativo di visita dell’area archeologica. I visitatori potranno seguire il percorso Vinum Nostrum, passeggiata alla scoperta dei vigneti di Pompei (Foro Boario, Fontane a Mosaico, Domus della Nave Europa, Caupona del Gladiatore, Caupona di Eusino, Orto dei Fuggiaschi) in parallelo con la mostra dedicata al vino e alla sua storia nell’antichità, che si sta svolgendo a Firenze, Palazzo Pitti fino al 15 maggio 2011.

Vigneto delle Fontane a Mosaico (ingresso Piazza Anfiteatro, ore 11,00) ____________________________________________________

Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei

Via Villa dei Misteri, 2 80045 Pompei NA

Tel. 081.8575220 Fax 081.8575234

www.pompeiviva.it

Cumuli rifiuti a scavi e ville Ercolano

This one  from ANSA.it is not so funny: as a result of the rubbish-collecting problems in the Bay of Naples, rubbish is accumulating outside the archaeological sites at Herculaneum.

Cumuli rifiuti a scavi e ville Ercolano

Sacchetti dovunque, si moltiplicano i roghi, specie di sera

Ancora difficolta' nel prelievo dei rifiuti ad Ercolano (Napoli) dove cumuli di sacchetti sono presenti, tra l'altro, nei pressi delle maggiori attrazioni turistiche del luogo, Scavi Archeologici e Ville Vesuviane. In nottata un solo automezzo della 'Multiecoplast', la ditta preposta al ciclo rifiuti, ha conferito all'impianto Stir di Caivano mentre altri 9 camion sono in fila da ore. Si moltiplicano i roghi, specie di sera, come dimostrano i tanti interventi dei vigili del fuoco.

Ozzy Osbourne related to the people of Pompeii!

And the next amusing story, a classic from the Daily Star. This one cracked me up!

OZZY OSBOURNE THE CAVEMAN: ROCKER’S DNA LINK TO THE STONED AGE

BAT-munching rocker Ozzy Osbourne is officially a caveman.

Scientists who mapped his genes found he was linked to the Neanderthals and has a body programmed for booze.

The Black Sabbath singer is one of the first people in the world to have tests to unravel his DNA.

They also revealed he was related to Romans who died in Pompeii when the volcano Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago.

Ozzy, 61, was told he was part- Neanderthal just months after experts first proved the primitive race had bred with humans.

He said: “That won’t come as much of a surprise to the missus, or various police departments around the world. This is big news for blokes everywhere, if the Neanderthals could get laid, there’s hope for us all.”

He also joked about sharing DNA with the Vesuvius victims.

“If any of the Roman Osbournes drank nearly as much as I used to, they wouldn’t have even felt the lava. They could have just walked it off.”

The results showed Ozzy was 6.13 times more likely than the average person to get hooked on booze and 1.31 times more prone to cocaine addiction.

Doctors found a twist in a gene that means he can soak up more alcohol than most.

But the former addict joked: “I used to drink four bottles of Cognac a day.

“I’m not sure I need a Harvard scientist to get to the bottom of that mystery.”