POMPEII AND
HERCULANEUM
Rescuing the Past for the
Future
Know the Syllabus
 Issues
of Conservation and
Reconstruction
 Italian and International
contributions and responsibilities
 Impact of Tourism
 Ethical Issues
CONSERVATION

Is defined as… “the preservation of cultural material for the foreseeable
future in a way that allows the maximum information to be retrieved by
further study and analyses.” Kate Foley

Positive Aspects. It safeguards the physical fabric of the object from loss and
deterioration

Negative Aspects. Conservation can also be destructive- by treating
the object it can destroy valuable information contained within the dirt or
corrosion products surrounding the object.
 RECONSTRUCTION

Measures to preserve historical materials and are based on accurate duplication
of documented features through archaeology

Positive Aspects. It provides greater impact and interests for tourists, creating

almost outdoor museums
Negative. It can be done in an unsympathetic way with materials not compatible.
The reconstructions are criticized as largely imaginative since they reflect present
mindedness rather than the object as it existed in ancient times.
THE SECOND DEATH?


The excavated cities are vast open-air museums
which together include almost 2000 buildings, many
kilometres of paths and roads, and thousands of
square metres of frescoed walls and paved mosaic
flooring still vulnerable to decay.
There are many causes of deterioration and problems
facing the sites of both Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Poor restoration work on the sites has been done by
local firms with little specialised knowledge of
restoration techniques and in some places incorrect
construction methods have been
What are the Problems?

“Just when Pompeii was being
rediscovered, it began to die it’s second
death”

–Henry de Saint-Blanquat
Insufficient finances
Lack of sufficient care in excavated parts
Unsympathetic restorations of the past
Nature; weeds, acid rain, sunlight, wear and tear
Human impact; negatives of humans
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MONEY, MONEY MONEY

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1997 a special law was passed giving the
superintendant the right to retain gate money.
1997 a law declaring private donations tax deductible
World Monument fund contributed $ 600,000 over 3
years to finance an assessment of the site and draft a
plan for restoration.
Funding from the European Union is being used to
create facilities such as bookshops, and restaurants,
which in turn will generate funds for conservation
projects
European Union; Any one read Italian??
INTERNATIONAL AID TO THE RESCUE

Justification for Inscription on
UNESCO; WORLD HERITAGE
LIST

The Committee decided to inscribe this
property on the basis of criteria (iii), (iv)
and (v), considering that the impressive
remains of the towns of Pompeii and
Herculaneum and their associated villas,
buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD
79, provide a complete and vivid picture
of society and daily life at a specific
moment in the past that is without
parallel anywhere in the world.
New focus

New approaches to
 "Towards an understanding of
conservation are being
the shape of space at VIII.7.115, Pompeii: preliminary
implemented. Instead of
results from the 2006 season."
concentrating on single
Steven Ellis, Gary Devore,
buildings, restoration and
2006..
conservation are
focusing on whole
insulae in order to
achieve a more
integrated result.
Bureaucracy.


Government red tape is blamed for some of the
inefficiencies at Pompeii. “If I have to fix a broken
wall,” said Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, the superintendent
of the ruins, “I first have to put out a tender for an
architect to evaluate the damage.
“Then I have to put out a tender for a company to fix
the wall. Then I have to see if I have enough money in
my budget to pay for the repair, and then finally the
work begins.
Unsympathetic restoration of the past



Amedeo Mauri director from 19241961 made an effort to improve the
infrastructure of the two towns.
Unfortunately many of the
materials used were mostly
concrete and steel which were not
only different to the original
materials but ultimately damaged
the original structure even
further.The alkaline in the masonry
reacted with the ancient walls
producing soluble salts which
migrated to the surface causing the
surface to crumble as in the House
of the Coloured Capitals.
Scaffolding and roof erected over
the remains of a two-storey
building in Pompeii.
In the lower right of the slide, a
Perspex sheet has been placed
over a painted sign
A case of poor restoration
House of Meleager

A new timber roof erected on
the House of Meleager in
Pompeii was poorly designed
and could not support the
weight of the tiles and
collapsed
INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS
TO THE RESCFUE


In 1990 an International team of
Archaeologists, Conservators
planned a rescue mission for the
decaying house.
Rotting wooden beams have
been replaced with new ones
stained a rich dark brown, mosaic
floors scrubbed to a bright white
and glossy black, and wall
paintings cleaned and restored to
better show their deep red,
yellow, and blue hues
RISING DAMP/FLOODING OF
SUBURBAN BATHS
Monica Castaldi and
Giorgio Torrata,
structural engineers
have been
commissioned to study
ways in which the water
rises in order to
channel it better in the
future
Drainage, Rising Damp and Humidity

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Herculaneums Suburban
Baths are the best preserved
bath complex.
The main problems facing its
preservation are humidity. The
baths are in fact saturated
both by surface water that
drains off the domus above
and by groundwater as it flows
down to the sea.
This has led to deterioration of
the vault linings of the
tepidarium and has caused
the Superindendant to close
the building to the public
The Solution- Laser Technology

Herculaneum
Conservation Project

In 2006 trials were carried out to
see how laser scanning could
help, not only in documentation
but monitoring of progress of
decay. This would allow more
informed decisions about
conservation but also preserve
the rich visual material for future
generations
DON’T WALK ON THE ??????
INSTABILITY OF WALLS/ FLOORS AND
CEILINGS
House of the Wooden
Shutters
Palaestra in Herculaneum
INVASION OF IVY
The roots of ivy are very
invasive and contribute to the
disintegration of mortar and
plaster. The weight of such
vegetation also damages
unsupported walls.
NOXIOUS VEGETATION

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The Pompeian soil is very fertile and allows plants of
all types to invade cracks in walls and open areas of
dirt.
Amongst the species of plants causing problems ,the
acanthus whose leaves adorn corinthian columns and
walls, wild strawberry, ivy, lichen and mosses. Henry
De St Blanquet identified 31 types of parasitic plants,
which over time can dislodge tiles and mozaics,
weaken mortar which destabilizes walls.
Large root systems can also undermine foundations of
buildings and invade drainage systems, adding to the
existing problems of water damage.
Solution; REPLANT WITH THE
ORIGINAL SPECIES

A research project was
designed by the
University of Sheffield to
retrieve evidence for the
date, layout and
landscaping of this major
sanctuary. Work began
in 1998 and was
completed in 2007.
REPLANTING ORCHARDS
Archaeologist Wilhemina
Jashemski made an extensive
study of the gardens, orchards and
vineyards within the walls of
Pompeii. Using plaster casts of the
cavities, which formed around the
roots of trees and vines and the
analysis of pollen found in the
ash, Jashemski was able to
identify the plants that were
growing at the time of the
eruption.
This orchard includes olive and
fruit trees and grapevines. A
section of the city wall can be
seen in the foreground while
Mount Vesuvius dominates the
background.
Restored Garden in House of Venus in
the Shell
Weathering, Wear and Tear

Buildings, artifacts and
surfaces have been exposed
to the natural errosive
processes of wind,sun and
rain. In the 20th century the
increasing acidic nature of
rain from pollution has
increased the damage to
surfaces.
EXPOSED LEAD PIPES
These exposed lead pipes carried water to houses in
this street in Pompeii. Judging by the relative height
of the doorstep and the kerbstones, the pipes would
have been quite close to the surface when originally
laid.
Note the evenly cut and precisely laid kerbstones.
Exposure to sunlight and acid rain
Solution; Via D’Ell Abbondanza Project
( Italian see pompeiisites.com )

The restoration project avails itself of an advanced 3D
technology supplied by the Kacyra Foundation of the
American firm bearing the same name which invented
the three-dimensional laser scan system. Thanks to
the surveys which have been carried out, a 3D data
bank of the area of the Fori Civili in Pompeii has been
created. As a consequence, the project of restoration
and protection of the wall paintings of Regio IX,
Insulae 7 and 11 has been developed. The restoration
work will be completed in January 2005.
Light Exposure to painted walls, frescoes
and paintings
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Problems with wall paintings is the high
calcium content which dissolves under
the influence of acid rain
Artists in ancient Pompeii painted the
town red 2,000 years ago with a brilliant
crimson pigment that dominated many of
the doomed city's wall paintings. They
were protected by a protective layer of “
punic wax”
Scientists now believe that a chemical
reaction takes place between chlorine
elements in rain and either the wax or
the cinnibar to produce the blackening
The wall at right shows the heavy
damage due to blackening of cinnabar in
the Poppea's villa in Oplontis
Salts coming to the surface, fade and
damage outdoor frescoes.
Stabilizing Frescoes

Frescoed walls absorb moisture from the
atmosphere. The moisture carries to the wall soluble
surface salts that effloresce and injure the fresco
pigments. To halt such injury water-permeable
fixatives may be applied to help stabilize the pigment
and prevent it from flaking off. A more drastic
treatment is transfer, by which the mural and upper
layer of plaster are cut away from the wall altogether
and made fast to a new support. A major instance of
successful transfer was carried out on many frescoes
unearthed at Pompeii.
PROTECTION AND STORAGE
Feral Dogs
Solution; Guards and strict instructions
to tourists, not to feed the dogs
DON’T FEED OR PAT THE DOGS!!!!!!!
Pigeon Poo!!! And its solutions- Trained
Falcons
NUMBERS
NEED TO PROVIDE
SPECIAL AMENITIES
FOOD/TOILETS/GAR
BAGE
WEAR AND
TEAR
FERAL
DOGS
By feet and backpacks
brushing against walls
TOURISM
negatives
THEFT &
VANDALISM
Frescoes stolen
from House of
Chaste Lovers
BODY OILS
FLASH
PHOTOGRAPHY
Tourism-A Double edged Sword

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Each year Pompeii alone admits 2.5
million tourists through its gates.
The general movement adds to the
wearing down of street surfaces,
particularly in frequented areas like the
Forum complex.
Accidental brushing as well as deliberate
touching of walls, columns and frescoes
allows perspiration and body oils to react
with the ancient surfaces.
Flash photography in the past has
magnified the damage caused by light
exposure.
Looting and vandalism has currently
become a major security problem for
Management.
RESTRICT AREAS AT RISK
Have varying tour routes
Less than ¼ of the
excavated town is
now accessible to the
public.
 In 2006 only 16
monuments, villas
and houses could be
viewed as opposed
to 60 in 1956

STOLEN POMPEII FRESCOES-2003
Italian police have recovered two
famous frescoes that were stolen last
weekend from a house in the Roman
city of Pompeii, near Naples. The 1st
Century frescoes were found at a construction
site close to the historic city, after roadblocks
were set up across the whole of Naples
province.
The authorities said they had already been
packed, and that the aim may have been to
smuggle them abroad.
Both panels were damaged during the theft.
Pompeii has a long record of art thefts.
A chronic lack of resources means there is a
shortage of security staff, which forces the
authorities to keep large areas of the site
closed to the public.
Solutions; Superintendant Guzzo
Guards
 2. Upgrade CCTV system
 International Legislation and prosecution
for traffiking in illicit cultural property.
 Significant houses fitted with alarms

1.
SOUND MANAGEMENT

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The combined sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabia and
Oplontis are managed by Superindent de Archaeologica di
Pompeii, a regional agency of the Italian Ministry of Culture and
Environment.
The current director is Pietro Guzzo whose initial approach was
to place a moratorium on new excavations
http://www.pompeiisites.org/ Click on Work in progress and make
brief notes about the varied projects
Choose at least 2 International Projects and make brief notes
about the aims, work carried out and any results.
CONSERVATION
PROJECTS
Superintendenza
Guzzo
Herculaneum
conservation
project
Hewlett Packard
British School
Of Rome
Philodemus
Project
University of Nth Carolina
3D laser Scanning of
Suburban Baths
World
Monument
Fund
1996
Kress
Foundation
UNESCO
World Heritage
List-1998
Anglo-American
Project
Academy
Projects
Pompeii
Trust
Bradford University
DIAPREM &
Kacyra Foundation
Architectonical
survey project
PRACTISE RESPONSE
Sir Henri De Saint- Blanquat once said, that the moment P
& H began to be excavated , they began to die their
second death.
Discuss this statement in relation to Conservation and
Reconstruction efforts in the two towns
600 words