Herculaneum and Pompeii
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Transcript of Herculaneum and Pompeii
Herculaneum and Pompeii
Mysteries Beneath the Rubble
By: Steven Singer, Steven DiCarlo, Kyle Finnican, and Reynolds Chin
Herculaneum and Pompeii
I. Plinian Eruptions Overview II. Mount Vesuvius - Our Recreation - Herculaneum - Pompeii
Plinian Eruptions- Plinian eruptions are also known as Vesuvian eruptions- Marked by eruption of gas and volcanic ash going high into the stratosphere- Other well known Plinian Eruptions are Mt. Saint Helens in 1980, and the most recent in the eruption of Sarychev Peak located in Russia in June, 2009- The gas and ash must enter the stratosphere at over 11km in order to be considered a Plinian
• Virtual Volcano : Discovery Channel
Mt. Vesuvius• Dormant for 800 years before the eruption on August 27, 79 AD
• Ash and volcanic stone spewed into the stratosphere
• Winds blew southeast causing volcanic materials to fall on Pompeii,
collapsing roofs, compared to only a few centimeters of ash in Herculaneum
• 12 hours later, pyroclastic flow raced down Vesuvius at 100 mph
toward Herculaneum • Between the 3 million inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum, it is
estimated that 15 to 25 thousand people died
Perspective of How Big Eruption Was
The eruption went into the air at 7 miles in the air, compared to the 5.5 miles that Mount Everest is.
Mt. Vesuvius Eruption: 7.5 miles high
Mount Everest: 5.5 Miles
Empire State Building: .375 miles high
Vesuvius Eruption: Our Recreation
We began the recreation process by building the volcano and the towns to show Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Vesuvius Eruption: The Pyroclastic Flow
We then proceeded to explode the volcano and you can see the emmense lava flow that happened 2000 years ago.
Vesuvius: Post Eruption
As you can see for both towns that they did not stand a chance against this ginormous volcano... just like in 79AD.
Herculaneum: Background Information
• Small and wealthy town in ancient Rome14°20′51″E
• Samnite tribe founded city • Greeks took control and named the
town Herculaneum in the late 6th century (named after Hercules)
• Used the town as a trading post because of the location to the Gulf of Naples
• In 4th century BC, Samnites reclaimed town until 89 BC when it came under Roman control
The Destruction of Herculaneum- Eruption started at 1 pm at August 24, 79 AD - Both Herculaneum and Pompeii recieved an initial couple centimeters of ash - the pyroclastic flow that hit Herculaneum was 750 degrees farenheit and made up of ash, gas, and rock -saved of rocks of ash because of wind
Herculaneum: The Excavations
- First excavation of Herculaneum was in 1738 by Joaquin de Alcubierre, engineer and captian in Spanish Army - Alcubierre gave up on Herculaneum to go to another site in Italy; Pompeii - Pompeii was significantly easier to excavate, it only had 4 meters of ash, Herculaneum had 20 meters of pyroclastic material - In 1981, Dr. Giuseppe Maggin came upon Herculaneum when digging to make a drainage pipe
Herculaneum: The Excavations (cont.)
- Dr. Maggin hired Sara Bisel, an anthropolgist, to excavate the area- She found 55 bodies, 30 men, 13 women, and 12 children- Because of the lack of bodies, she presumed the majority of the population fled before the flow of pyroclastic material arrived- She then found 250 bodies huddled together near 12 boathouses- The people were about to be rescued when they were hit by the flow
Pompeii Background info
• Pompeii is located in western Italy, 7 miles from Mt. Vesuvius, in a region called Campania
• People in city were clueless about how much destruction Mt. Vesuvius could do
• Earthquake in 62 AD (7.5 on Richter scale) was only recent natural disaster in Pompeii before eruption
• Minor tremors led up to erpution
• Eruption occured on August 24, AD 79
• Lava flowed down Vesuvius,
destroying everything in its path
• Mephitic fumes caused
deliriousness, then suffocation
• Wind was blowing in
Pompeii's direction, increasing the damag
The Destruction of Pompeii
• Some people chose to run away with their valuables, others chose to wait until streets were less crowded, and others locked themselves in their houses
• Everybody who did not run
away was killed
The Destruction of Pompeii (cont.)
The Excavation of Pompeii
· Exploration started in 1748 · Ash was actually very light and not compact · Excavation started to get pieces of art for Bourbon King Charles III
Pompeii: Excavations (cont.)
· As many as 1500 excavators at a time, leading to many buildings being uncovered · By 1860 most of western sector was excavated · When French controlled Naples, excavation was more organized, going form west to east
Extra info on pompeii
• Pompeii became a Roman town in 80 BC
• It had many very
prosperous ports • First rediscovered in 1748
• Off the Gulf of Naples
Sources• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum• http://www.romanherculaneum.com (go to new site)• http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-011.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinian_eruption• http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/PlinianEruption.php• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii• http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/europe/pompeii.html• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/pompeii_rediscovery_01.shtml