How Herculaneum Is Better Preserved Than Pompeii | Herculaneum Uncovered | Timeline
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Published 2017-06-07
Pompeii, the lost Roman city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, has long been a source of fascination to archaeologists. But its sister city Herculaneum, buried in the same eruption but to a much greater depth than Pompeii, reveals far more detail of how the Romans lived.
For many years the city appeared to have been abandoned and it was assumed the inhabitants had managed to escape in the hours before Herculaneum was engulfed by the volcano. Then in the 1980s a macabre discovery was made. Burrowing through the volcanic mud, archaeologists found hundreds of bodies huddled pitifully together. Vesuvius is still active and is on course to erupt again. The lure of its rich volcanic soil and the delights of the Bay of Naples have attracted a far greater population than lived there in Roman times. And while civil servants at the Vesuvius observatory express confidence that there will be ample warning and time to evacuate the surrounding population, many geologists disagree. Evidence from an eruption in 4000 BC reveals that the volcano is capable of destroying Naples, a cataclysm far greater than that of 79 AD. If that were to happen today it could engulf 3 million people. On that scale, in an area where motorway traffic jams are a fact of daily life, present evacuation plans are completely inadequate.
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All Comments (21)
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My Grandpa was born and grew up less than a Mile from Pompei..He would tell us stories about how he played amongst the ruins..at the age of 17 he left Italy for the USA..He arrived in NYC with 3 Lira in his pocket..He didn’t have a family..but after meeting my Grandma...they had 9 children and later 24 grandchildren..He was so happy having such a big family..after starting life all on his own.
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I pay for tv apps and yet I always find more interesting things on YouTube.
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I was stationed in Naples in the 90s, and visited both Pompeii and Herculaneum (Ercolano) several times. Without a doubt, Herculaneum was in better shape, and had far less tourists, which made it a better place to visit overall.
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Absolutely incredible. Preserved structures, basically a door into 79 AD. Absolutely astonishing
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The richness of the soil is the bait the volcano uses to lure its prey.
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Oh my goodness the story and evidence they found about the painters @ 11:39 is incredible. Even finding the paint?? Crazy! I hate that this terrible tragedy befell the ancient people but it's so incredible how it preserved so many things for us to see now that would never survive normally.
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I really love history shows. can't get enough of them.
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the city that's left as well as the art on the walls and artifacts showed they lived pretty luxuriously for ancient times
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When I visited Pompeii I was a teenager. It was an experience I'll never forget. Incredible. An entire Roman city perfectly preserved.
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These poor people I couldn’t imagine what was racing through their minds and their hearts as they clung to each other in horrible agony. Terrible tragedy that even after centuries still fascinates us today
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I have to go there someday, it is so amazing to walk around in all that history.
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Fabulous footage. Always amazed at the artwork: paintings, murals, statues, frescos... These ancient history docs give me a feeling I don't think there is a word for. A mixture of wonder, wistfulness, and connection to the past. I imagine the camera operators were a bit overwhelmed on this assignment. How could you not be?
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I visited to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius in 2016 and it was a great experience to visit there but to be honest I felt so saddened and heart broken by seeing the lost city of Pompeii which took lives of so many people ! Prayer and love from Tibet ! Wishing never ever such disaster happen again !
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I was almost 6 when Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980, 40 years ago in just a few days. It was a Beautiful sunny cloudless day. I was at Church with my Dad & Brother. It was a Beautiful yet quiet Spring Day. Later when we evacuated it looked like it could have been near midnight and it was snowing, grey silky ash. I live in Spokane Washington. I have a bottle of ash from the eruption on my nightstand. My dad picked up a homeless old hitchhiker on the way home. Poor man was near suffocating from all the ash. I remember wearing masks outside for the next week or so cause we had a few inches of Ash. Now we're suppose to cause of Covid-19 Virus. My dad helped clean our neighborhood & decided to try cleaning our pet cats with the vacuum. He was tore up from the floor up LOL! What a still very vivid memory!
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I just went here this weekend. It's really amazing how well the paint colors and structures were preserved. The skeletons were also quite interesting to look at. You can practically see the fear and pain in some of the faces.
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October 24 79 AD Mt Vesuvius erupted and October 24, 2019 is my 60th birthday and I will make it memorable by going to Pompeii for my birthday holiday.
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How great it is that we have people who dedicate their lives to preserve history for all.
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This is one of the best history videos I've enjoyed, and the commentator made it the Best video on the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius, giving life back to the victims of that eruption.
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Was fortunate enough to visit both sites(and the volcano), it’s really is almost beyond comprehension how deep Herculaneum was buried, and the frozen in time horror of Pompeii. A true time capsule, and demonstration of how we are humbled before the power of nature.
