Pompeii

Revision as of 11:09, 25 March 2013

Coordinates:37° 4' 55" N, 22° 25' 25" E

It is referenced in the following articles

Accounts of the Eruption of Vesuvius

Some points to consider are:

• 1.Literary evidence. Pliny the Younger’s description of the eruption is fundamental.
• 2.Geological evidence. Volcanologists have studied the volcanic deposits in different parts of Campania to determine the exact progression of the eruption, and the fact that different towns and areas were affected slightly differently according to their location.
• 3.Comparison to modern eruptions, such as Mount Pinatubo and Mount St Helens, where the eruptions have been recorded scientifically.
• 4.Archaeological evidence. Excavations have demonstrated the violence of the eruption and how it destroyed as well as buried Pompeii.

It is correct in thinking that volcanic eruptions have a pattern which volcanologists (and archaeologists) have studied, especially at Pompeii.

Generally, volcanic activity occurs in series of steps leading to an eruption. In the case of Pompeii at AD 79, it had been centuries since the last eruption so it is thought that the people living in the Vesuvian region (Neapolis, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Nucera, etc.) were unaware entirely of what they were living on and close to. Not only were many of the settlements of the area situated around the base of the volcano, but the inhabitants and wildlife were dependent on the fertility of the soil, which unbeknownst to them, was a direct result of previous eruptions. The area had been occupied since the Bronze Age, perhaps earlier, as we have the remains of a Bronze Age 'Pompeii'-like site (remains of which can be seen in Pompeii's Macellum, no longer in situ where they were found on the slopes of Vesuvius).

As we know, the catestrophic earthquake of AD 63 significantly affected the settlements of the region. In fact, we now know that it was a marker of a building catestrophic eruption of Vesuvius that would not occur until 16-17 years later. It's probably too simple to think of the region not being affected by smaller earthquakes and seismic activity between AD 63 to AD 79, and more likely to think that the inhabitants of the are were becoming more used to this. Many restorations to the properties of Pompeii had not been completed by the time of the eruption at AD 79 (whether damage from AD 63 or much more recent is debated, but one suspects it is a combination of damage over many years). Further, you can see today how seismic activity affects the Vesuvian region in a phenomenon known as Bradyseism.

As Pliny the Younger's description to Tacitus tells us, the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 took place over 2 days. Today we refer to this type of eruption as a 'Plinian eruption' because of his description of what happened.

We also understand that the eruption occured in stages, hence the differing levels and types of pumice and ash that fell around the Vesuvian region beginning with the explosion of the cone of the volcano, leading through the stages of the Umbrella Pine eruption to the collapse of the gases which caused a pyroclastic flow of ultra-hot gases, ash and pumice to race over the landscape filling every cranny and building with ash and immediately killing the remaining persons in Pompeii. When this pyroclastic flow hit the open water of the Bay of Naples it actually created steam, which super-charged the speed at which the pyroclastic flow was travelling and propelled it even greater distances (Capri, Sorrento, etc.).

A tsunami did also occur as a result of the seismic activity, but because archaeologists have had trouble locating the site of the ancient shoreline, the effects are not entirely understood as to how this impacted Pompeii at AD 79.