Archaeologists uncovering these items detected pigments left on wooden panels, marble statues, and stone carvings. Using advanced technology, scientists have been able to identify these colours and create digital images of what the items would have looked like in their prime.
The ruins of both Herculaneum and Pompeii have revealed a popular pastime of the ancient Romans, visiting brothels. Both cities were wealthy and with that wealth came extravagances such as fine foods, art, and…prostitutes.
Prostitution was legal in these ancient cities and many brothels were built to provide this service. The incredible preservation of both Pompeii and Herculaneum has allowed archaeologists to learn much about how these places would have functioned.
The brothel owners adorned the walls with frescos; fine paintings that depict erotic imagery. These would have been to set the mood and to display a menu of services provided.
These frescoes can still be viewed among the ruins today. The brothels and their frescoes were the main reason that Pompeii took so long to be fully discovered. In an architect named Domenico Fontana came across the ruins, but he covered them back up again!
Historians have speculated that this was because Fontana found the erotic imagery, which would have been shocking at the time, and simply hid them away. In fact, what may have drawn many people to the area was the nutrient-rich volcanic soil that was left behind from historical eruptions. A large earthquake rocked the surrounding area 17 years before the main eruption, which nowadays would be taken as a warning sign, but the ancient inhabitants remained clueless.
There were also several tremours felt in the lead up to the eruption. But the locals simply took this in their stride, unaware that these were indications of the devastating event to come. The only positive thing to come from these quakes and tremors was that some buildings collapsed, forcing their residents to relocate in towns further from the volcano.
The same eruption that killed them also helped preserve detailed evidence about their lives and the moment of their deaths. For nearly 2, years, Skeleton Number 26 lay facedown, with one arm stretched out as if to break his fall.
He was probably knocked down by the blast that killed him and everyone else on the beach. The man, who was between 40 and 45 years old when he died, wore a leather belt decorated with plates of gold and silver.
He carried a finely crafted sword with an ornate ivory hilt and a correspondingly elegant dagger. All together, those accouterments mark him as a military officer with rank and status—and the wealth to show it off. That detail seems to clash with the sword, dagger, and armor, unless the dead man was a faber navalis , or master carpenter. If so, he would have been something like engineering officers aboard modern naval vessels, both a naval leader and a highly advanced technical specialist.
Modern analogs may shed some light on the debate. Janine Krippner , a volcanologist at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, points out that pyroclastic flows and surges still happen today, and they are not always a guarantee of a quick, painless demise.
The outcome depends on how fast, hot, ashy, and gassy the currents are, among other things. If it is diluted enough, you might even be able to survive the severe heat-related trauma. All rights reserved.
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