Pompeii is a place that's fascinated me since as far back as I can remember. Although Vesuvius isn't erupting at the moment, it's still a very impressive volcano, especially when you consider how close to it millions of people live. The surrounding cities, including present day Pompeii, are
built on meters of ash from eruptions past. Add to this that Vesuvius is apparently overdue in it's eruption cycle and the whole area (for me at least) becomes a fascinating flirtation with disaster.The excavated city (which was destroyed in an eruption in 79 AD) was an amazing place to wander around. The body casts of people who were killed and buried in hot ash after the explosion were made by pouring plaster into the hollow cast left in the ash after their bodies were long gone. On the left is a cast of a man who was found next to a cast of his mule. Apparently he sat down to protect his face with his hands and never got up.
If you look closely, that's a cast of a person just stored on the shelf with the jars that were found. They even found a cast of a dog. One last fact - this is the first known beware of the dog sign. It's made of mosaic tiles and fitted at the entrance to a large house they've excavated.
No comments:
Post a Comment