Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 6, Episode 3 - Herculaneum Uncovered - full transcript
MOUNT VESUVIUS BURIED POMPEII,
BUT ALSO DESTROYED
THE LOST CITY OF HERCULANEUM.
THE DEVASTATION WAS SPECTACULAR.
Man: PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SCORCHED EVERYTHING.
Announcer: INSTANTLY, BRAINS
BOILED AND HEADS EXPLODED.
YOU BECOME INCINERATED
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.
Announcer: NOW NEW EXCAVATIONS
ARE REVEALING STUNNING DETAILS
ABOUT THE LIFE
AND DEATH OF THE TOWN,
AND PROVIDING A WARNING
FOR THE FUTURE.
"HERCULANEUM UNCOVERED"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Narrator: AUGUST 24th, 79 A.D.
BEGAN LIKE ANY OTHER DAY
IN THE ANCIENT ROMAN TOWN
OF HERCULANEUM.
CITIZENS MET IN THE TOWN SQUARE,
DISCUSSED A LITTLE POLITICS,
TALKED BUSINESS
OVER LAVISH LUNCHES.
LIKE ITS NEIGHBOR POMPEII,
HERCULANEUM WAS A SEASIDE TOWN
THRIVING UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
TRADE WAS GOOD;
THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT.
BUT THE CLOCK WAS TICKING
ON THIS IDYLLIC EXISTENCE.
PERCHED ON THE SHORE
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN,
HERCULANEUM STOOD IN THE SHADOW
OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO:
MOUNT VESUVIUS.
Man: THE INHABITANTS
HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA
OF THE DESTRUCTIVE
POWER OF THE VOLCANO.
THEY HAD NO IDEA
OF THE DEGREE OF THE DANGER.
Narrator: NO IDEA,
UNTIL VESUVIUS BURST
SPECTACULARLY TO LIFE.
LIKE POMPEII,
THE TOWN WAS BURIED ALIVE.
2,000 YEARS LATER,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE DIGGING
THROUGH THE VOLCANIC DEBRIS,
TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT HAPPENED
IN HERCULANEUM'S FINAL MOMENTS.
THEY HAVE STUMBLED
UPON THE TUNNELS
OF ANCIENT TOMB RAIDERS
WHO PLUNDERED THE SITE,
AND FOUND
REMARKABLE HUMAN REMAINS
THAT REVEAL EXACTLY
HOW THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
MET THEIR GRUESOME
AND EXPLOSIVE ENDS.
THIS IS THE BAY OF NAPLES,
THE MOST UNSTABLE VOLCANIC
REGION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
VESUVIUS IS AT ITS HEART,
AND THE MOUNTAIN'S DESTRUCTION
OF POMPEII IN 79 A.D.
HAS BECOME AN ICONIC
HISTORICAL DISASTER.
HERCULANEUM'S DEMISE HAS BEEN
FAR LESS WELL-DOCUMENTED.
IT HAS BEEN
THE FORGOTTEN VICTIM,
AND ONLY NOW
IS THE TRUTH ABOUT ITS DOWNFALL
FINALLY COMING TO LIGHT.
ANDREW WALLACE-HADRILL
IS HEAD OF THE HERCULANEUM
CONSERVATION PROJECT.
HIS MISSION IS TO PRESERVE
THE SITE'S TREASURES
AND UNRAVEL ITS UNIQUE STORY.
Man: COMPARED TO POMPEII,
HERCULANEUM
IS A TINY LITTLE TOWN.
IT'S ONLY ABOUT
4,000 INHABITANTS,
WHICH IN OUR TERMS
IS ONLY A BIG VILLAGE.
BUT IT HAD ALL THE FEATURES
OF A MAJOR CITY.
Narrator: WHEN VESUVIUS ERUPTED,
IT TRAPPED HERCULANEUM IN TIME.
IN 79 A.D.,
THE TOWN WAS AT THE CENTER
OF AN EMPIRE IN ITS PRIME.
ROME HAD CONQUERED THE ENTIRE
MEDITERRANEAN AND BEYOND.
ITS DOMINIONS STRETCHED
FROM BRITAIN
ALL THE WAY TO JERUSALEM.
TODAY, THE SITE
OFFERS A UNIQUE WINDOW
INTO THIS ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD.
LIKE A PREHISTORIC INSECT
FROZEN IN AMBER,
IT RETAINS EVERY FEATURE
OF A FORGOTTEN ERA.
EVERY NUANCE OF LIFE
HAS BEEN PRESERVED.
Wallace-Hadrill: WHAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM SPECIAL FOR ME
IS THAT IT YOU HAVE
PROBABLY A BETTER CHANCE
THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
OF PIECING TOGETHER
AN ENTIRE ANCIENT SOCIETY.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT THEIR DIET,
WE HAVE THEIR HOUSES,
WE CAN TALK
ABOUT HOW THEY LIVED,
HOW THEY MADE THEIR MONEY.
WE CAN SEE SO MANY DIFFERENT
ASPECTS IN GREAT DETAIL,
AND THEN PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER
TO MAKE A SOCIETY.
Narrator: WORKING IN AREAS
OFF-LIMITS TO THE PUBLIC,
ANDREW AND A TEAM
OF SCIENTISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS
ARE BUILDING A PICTURE
OF LIFE AND DEATH IN HERCULANEUM
MORE DETAILED THAN EVEN THEY
HAD HOPED TO UNCOVER.
THEY ARE OVERTURNING
THE LONG-HELD BELIEF
THAT EVERYONE HAD
ESCAPED THE ERUPTION,
AND DISCOVERING
THAT THE TOWN'S DEMISE
WAS EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR
AND HORRIFIC THAN POMPEII'S.
THE WAY HERCULANEUM WAS BURIED
ENSURED THAT IT IS
ALSO BETTER PRESERVED
THAN ITS MORE FAMOUS NEIGHBOR,
BUT THE VERY ACT
OF DIGGING IT UP
IS PUTTING ITS TREASURES
AT RISK.
Voice-over:
WHEN WE FIRST CAME ON SITE,
WE NOTICED THAT THERE
WAS DECAY AND COLLAPSE
VIRTUALLY EVERYWHERE,
AND WE STARTED
A SITE-WIDE CAMPAIGN
REALLY RUNNING AROUND
PROPPING UP STUFF
THAT WE THOUGHT
WAS IN A CRITICAL CONDITION
BEFORE IT ACTUALLY
FELL TO PIECES.
A SITE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN ONCE
DESTROYED BY VOLCANIC ACTION
IS INCREDIBLY FRAGILE.
EVERYTHING THAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM PRECIOUS
ALSO MAKES IT FRAGILE.
Narrator: COCOONED FOR CENTURIES
BENEATH VOLCANIC DEBRIS,
HERCULANEUM GROWS MORE AND MORE
UNSTABLE AS IT IS UNCOVERED.
AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT
FOLLOWING PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS,
THE TEAM IS STRUGGLING
TO CONSERVE THE SITE
BEFORE THE TOWN'S PRICELESS
ARTIFACTS ARE LOST FOREVER.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THERE STILL ARE FRESCOES
FALLING OFF THE WALLS
EVERYWHERE.
MOSAIC FLOORS WERE EXPLODING
WITH LITTLE MOSAIC PEBBLES
SPREAD ALL OVER THE PLACE.
WOODEN BEAMS...
WOODEN BEAMS ARE
SOME OF THE REALLY RARE
FEATURES OF THIS SITE.
IT'S EXTRAORDINARY TO SEE
A WOODEN BEAM ABOVE A DOOR,
OR WOODEN SHUTTERS
OUTSIDE WINDOWS.
AND YET THEY WERE
CRUMBLING AWAY.
Narrator:
IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME
TO PRESERVE THESE EXISTING FINDS
BEFORE THEY WASTE AWAY.
AND THERE IS STILL MORE TREASURE
TO BE FOUND.
ONLY A FRACTION OF THE TOWN
HAS BEEN EXCAVATED,
AND MUCH OF THE CITY STILL LIES
PERFECTLY ENTOMBED UNDERGROUND.
BUT GETTING TO IT IS NOT AS EASY
AS PICKING UP A SHOVEL,
BECAUSE MODERN ITALIANS
HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THE SITE
JUST AS THE ANCIENT ROMANS WERE.
TODAY, THERE ARE 650,000 PEOPLE
LIVING ABOVE THE RUINS
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Man: YOU FIND
SETTLEMENTS ON VOLCANOES
FOR ONE SPECIFIC REASON,
AND THAT'S THE FACT THAT
THE SOIL THAT VOLCANOES PRODUCE
ARE RICH IN NUTRIENTS, MINERALS.
IT RETAINS WATER LIKE A SPONGE.
SO THEREFORE IT STANDS TO REASON
THAT WHEN THEY PLANT
THEIR CROPS,
THEY GET FANTASTIC FOOD FROM IT.
AND THAT'S WHY THEY SIT
ON THE SIDE OF THESE VOLCANOES.
Narrator: THESE DAYS,
IT'S A CALCULATED RISK.
PEOPLE KNOW
THE VOLCANO IS ACTIVE,
BUT ARE WILLING
TO TAKE THEIR CHANCES.
THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE
AN ERUPTION WILL HAPPEN
DURING THEIR LIFETIMES.
DURING ROMAN TIMES,
THE RESIDENTS DIDN'T KNOW
THEY HAD ANYTHING
TO WORRY ABOUT.
Davies: YOU HAVE TO BEAR IN MIND
THAT VULCANOLOGY WASN'T
A SUBJECT IN THOSE DAYS.
NO ONE KNEW WHEN THEY LOOKED
AT THE ROCK STRATA
THAT, OH, YEAH, THERE'S BEEN
AN ERUPTION IN THIS AREA.
SO PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW
THAT VESUVIUS WAS
ACTUALLY GOING TO BLOW.
Narrator: THE ROMANS HAD NO IDEA
THEIR MOUNTAIN
WAS EVEN A VOLCANO.
MOST OF THE TIME,
VESUVIUS SEEMS
DECEPTIVELY DORMANT.
BUT DEEP BELOW GROUND,
THE VERY FABRIC OF THE EARTH
IS ALWAYS ON THE MOVE.
THROUGH A WEAK SPOT
IN THE EARTH'S CRUST,
BURNING MAGMA SEEPS
INTO A MASSIVE CHAMBER
THAT STRETCHES FOR MILES
BENEATH HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII.
IN 79 A.D., THAT CHAMBER HAD
FILLED TO THE BURSTING POINT.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THEY HAD NO IDEA
OF THE DEGREE OF THE DANGER.
THEY EVEN HAD WARNINGS
OF THE ONCOMING DANGER.
WE NOW KNOW THAT THE EARTHQUAKE
17 YEARS BEFORE THE ERUPTION
WAS A PRECURSOR TO THE ERUPTION.
THEY COULDN'T READ IT LIKE THAT.
PEOPLE WERE WELL AWARE
OF EARTHQUAKES
AS A SOURCE OF DANGER.
AND TRADITIONALLY THEY SAW THEM
AS THE RESULT
OF THE WRATH OF POSEIDON,
THE WRATH OF THE SEA GOD
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
Narrator: BY AUGUST
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SIGNS
THAT THE GODS WERE ANGRY.
WHAT HAPPENS IS THE MAGMA
IS TRYING TO GET TO THE SURFACE,
IT'S ACCOMMODATING THE SPACE,
AND YOU GET
FRACTURES OPENING UP.
BUT WHEN YOU REALLY START TO
KNOW THAT SOMETHING'S HAPPENING
IS THAT IN FRONT OF THAT MAGMA
IS LOTS OF STEAM.
IT'S VERY, VERY HOT,
LOTS OF GASES,
SO THOSE WOULD HAVE
BEEN VENTING FIRST.
PRESSURE IS BUILDING UP
AND BUILDING UP
UNTIL EVENTUALLY, IT JUST SNAPS.
Narrator: VESUVIUS ERUPTED
AROUND 1:00 P.M. ON AUGUST 24th,
THROWING A BROILING, CHURNING
COLUMN OF GAS AND ASH
HIGH INTO THE AIR.
Davies: NOW THIS ASH COLUMN
WOULD HAVE BEEN GIGANTIC.
I MEAN,
IF YOU WERE DOWN IN POMPEII,
EVEN THAT FAR BACK,
YOU WOULDN'T SEE
OVER THE TOP OF IT,
YOU WOULDN'T SEE
AROUND THE SIDES OF IT.
IT'S MILLIONS
AND MILLIONS OF TONS
OF VOLCANIC DEBRIS
THAT'S THROWN UP INTO THE AIR.
Narrator: WITHIN MINUTES,
THE ERUPTION COLUMN
WAS 10 MILES HIGH.
THE WIND CARRIED THE DEADLY
CLOUD EAST TOWARDS POMPEII.
THE PEOPLE IN HERCULANEUM
WOULD HAVE SEEN THE CLOUD
ENVELOPING THEIR NEIGHBORS.
Davies: THIS IS WHERE
YOU GET LOTS OF PUMICES,
THESE VERY, VERY LIGHT
VOLCANIC ROCK
THAT GET CATAPULTED
WAY UP INTO THE AIR,
INTO THE STRATOSPHERE
IN MANY COUNTS.
THESE DAYS WE WOULD DESCRIBE IT
AS A NUCLEAR MUSHROOM CLOUD,
BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT IT'S LIKE.
Wallace-Hadrill: PERHAPS
THE MOST TERRIFYING THING
OF BEING IN HERCULANEUM
WAS THAT YOU COULD SEE
THE ERUPTION,
WITHOUT BEING COVERED BY IT.
SO YOU COULD SEE THE COLUMN
RISING ABOVE THE VOLCANO,
BUT IT DIDN'T GO DARK
IN HERCULANEUM.
Narrator: IN POMPEII,
DAY TURNED TO NIGHT
AS THE TOWN WAS SWALLOWED
BY THE BLACK VOLCANIC CLOUD.
PUMICE STONES BEGAN
FALLING ON THE ROOFTOPS.
PEOPLE FLED OR HID INSIDE,
HOPING THE STORM WOULD PASS.
CONFUSION AND PANIC SET IN
AS THE ASH BEGAN
TO BURY THE HOUSES.
ARCHAEOLOGIST ANTONIO VARONE
REVEALS HOW SUDDENLY
THE CATASTROPHE ARRIVED.
Second Man: WE ARE IN THE HOUSE
WHERE THE PAINTERS WERE WORKING.
SOMETHING VERY DRAMATIC
IS HAPPENING, THE ERUPTION.
BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THAT.
THE PAINTERS ARE
STILL WORKING IN HERE.
WE CAN SEE THE YOUNGER PAINTER,
WHO'S JUST LAID HIS PLASTER.
THE PLASTER IS STILL FRESH.
IN FACT,
YOU CAN SEE FALLING PUMICE
HAS LEFT CLEAR MARKS
ON THE FRESH PLASTER.
THERE IS ANOTHER PAINTER
WORKING ON THIS WALL.
IT'S THE "PICTOR IMAGINARIUS,"
THE MASTER PAINTER.
HE'S PUT A SHELF IN HERE,
WHERE HE PUT SOME POTS
WITH COLORS.
WE FOUND THEM HERE
WITH THEIR WORK TOOLS.
WE HAVE THE WHITE, THE GREEN,
THE BLACK, THE YELLOW,
THE RED AND THE BLUE.
Narrator: BUT THE PAINTERS NEVER
FINISHED THEIR MASTERPIECE.
EVIDENTLY OUR PAINTER
IS ON A SCAFFOLDING,
AND HE'S HOLDING A POT WITH LIME
TO KEEP THE PAINT WET.
HE MUST HAVE LOST HIS BALANCE
AND SPILT THE LIME
ALL OVER THE PAINTING.
THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY PLACE
WHERE WE CAN FIND
THE PAINTER AT WORK
RATHER THAN
THE FINISHED PAINTING.
WE HAVE FOUND THEIR TOOLS,
BUT WE HAVEN'T FOUND THEM.
WE HOPE THEY RAN AWAY
AND SURVIVED.
Narrator: OUTSIDE,
PUMICE AND ASH
BEGAN TO CHOKE
POMPEII'S STREETS.
NEXT DOOR TO THE PAINTERS,
A BAKER WAS FEARFUL ENOUGH
FOR HIS OWN SAFETY
THAT HE FLED HIS SHOP,
LEAVING HIS VALUABLE LIVESTOCK
BEHIND IN THEIR PADDOCKS.
THIS IS THE STABLE OF A BAKERY.
AS YOU CAN SEE,
NOT ONLY HUMANS DIED,
BUT ALSO ANIMALS.
THESE ARE THE ANIMALS
THAT WORKED THE MILLSTONES.
WE CAN SEE SOME WOODEN STICKS
THAT WERE TIED TO THE COLLAR
OF THE ANIMALS.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN WHIPPED
TO MAKE THEM PUSH THE MILLSTONE.
THEY HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP
IN THE STABLE
BY THE OWNERS WHO RAN FOR IT.
THE OWNERS CERTAINLY THOUGHT
THEY WOULD HAVE COME BACK
AFTERWARDS,
SO THEY LOCKED THE DOOR TO STOP
THE ANIMALS FROM RUNNING AWAY.
HOWEVER, THE ANIMALS
FACED THEIR SAD DESTINY,
LOCKED UP
WITHOUT A WAY OF ESCAPE.
Narrator:
AROUND 5:00 IN THE AFTERNOON,
ROOFTOPS STARTED TO COLLAPSE
UNDER THE WEIGHT
OF THE PUMICE AND ASH.
ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE
THE TERROR IN POMPEII
AS THE WHOLE TOWN
WAS SLOWLY ENTOMBED.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS MUCH SMALLER,
RARE FOOTAGE
FROM A 1944 ERUPTION
REVEALS JUST HOW MUCH DAMAGE
VESUVIUS CAN DO.
RESIDENTS OF THE TOWNS
NEAR THE VOLCANO
WATCHED HELPLESSLY
AS THEIR HOMES WERE DESTROYED
BY A SLOW BUT RELENTLESS
FLOW OF LAVA.
MASS EVACUATIONS SAVED LIVES,
BUT NOTHING COULD BE DONE
TO DIVERT THE SURGE
FROM ITS PATH.
THE SUPERHEATED LAVA ENGULFED
EVERYTHING IT TOUCHED.
Davies: THIS LAVA IS NOT GOING
TO KILL ANYONE INSTANTLY;
IT MOVES INCREDIBLY SLOWLY,
AROUND ABOUT
100 METERS PER HOUR.
SO THAT MEANS THAT IF YOU TAKE
A FOOTBALL-PITCH LENGTH,
IT'LL TAKE OVER AN HOUR
TO GET TO THE END OF IT.
SO YOU CAN OUTWALK IT,
YOU CAN OUTRUN IT,
IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
Narrator:
BUT THE SLOW PACE OF THE LAVA
DID NOT HINDER
ITS DESTRUCTIVENESS.
THE FLOW DECIMATED
VILLAGES, FARMS,
AND 88 U.S. B-25 BOMBERS
THAT WERE STATIONED
JUST EAST OF THE MOUNTAIN.
THE LAVA MOVED SO SLOWLY,
IT GAVE PEOPLE TIME TO SEE
JUST HOW HELPLESS THEY WERE.
PAINFULLY AWARE
OF THEIR OWN VULNERABILITY,
MANY MADE HOLY OFFERINGS
AND PRAYED TO GOD
FOR THEIR SURVIVAL.
THEIR ANCESTORS
PROBABLY DID THE SAME,
THOUGH THEY WOULD HAVE HAD
FAR MORE TO PRAY FOR.
THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION WAS
50 TIMES MORE POWERFUL
THAN THE 1944 BLAST,
WITH THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
OF HUNDREDS OF HIROSHIMA BOMBS.
THE 79 A.D. BLAST HURLED PUMICE
AND ASH ON POMPEII FOR 12 HOURS.
IN HERCULANEUM, MANY FLED,
WHILE OTHERS WATCHED
THE BLACK VOLCANIC CLOUD
BLEND INTO
THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT.
THEY HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING
VESUVIUS WAS ABOUT TO ENTER
ITS NEXT, EVEN DEADLIER PHASE.
AT AROUND MIDNIGHT,
THE VOLCANO'S GIGANTIC
ERUPTION COLUMN COLLAPSED.
WITH THE SPEED OF A HURRICANE,
MOLTEN ROCK, MUD, ASH,
AND SUPERHEATED GAS
HURTLED TOWARDS HERCULANEUM.
CALLED A PYROCLASTIC FLOW,
THIS WAVE OF DESTRUCTION
IS THE MOST VIOLENT EVENT
IN VULCANOLOGY.
IT IS SO QUICK AND DEADLY,
SCIENTISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY
MANAGED TO CAPTURE IT ON FILM.
THIS FLOW HAPPENED
ON THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND
OF MONSERRAT IN THE 1990's.
WHEN THE DUST CLEARED,
IT REVEALED
A SCENE OF COMPLETE RUIN.
EVERYTHING IN THE FLOW'S PATH
WAS DESTROYED.
IN 79 A.D., A SUCCESSION OF
SUPERHEATED PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
HURTLED THROUGH HERCULANEUM
DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
OF AUGUST 25th.
BY 7:00 OR 8:00 A.M.,
COOLER FLOWS
REACHED POMPEII AS WELL.
BUT HERCULANEUM WAS HIT HARDEST
AND BURIED DEEPEST...
IN SOME PLACES,
AS DEEP AS A 4-STORY BUILDING.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE TOWN IS EVENTUALLY BURIED
TO THE DEPTH OF 70, 80 FEET.
BUT THAT TAKES PROBABLY
12 TO 24 HOURS TO ACHIEVE.
PYROCLASTIC SURGES AND FLOWS
COME DOWN ONE AFTER ANOTHER,
AND EACH ADDS
ITS OWN LITTLE BIT.
THEY GATHER STRENGTH.
THEY PRODUCE
MORE AND MORE MATERIAL,
DENSER MATERIAL, AS TIME PASSES.
AND, IN FACT, LONG AFTER
THE CITY HAS BEEN DESTROYED,
IT'S STILL BEING
FILLED UP AND FILLED UP.
Narrator: SO MUCH MATERIAL
WAS DEPOSITED ON THE TOWN
THAT EVEN ITS COASTLINE
CHANGED DRAMATICALLY.
SEASIDE VILLAS ENDED UP
HUNDREDS OF YARDS INLAND
AS VOLCANIC DEBRIS
FILLED IN THE BAY.
BUT IT WOULD
HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE
TO SEE THE MAGNITUDE
OF THE CHANGE,
BECAUSE THE ENTIRE TOWN
DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW
BENEATH THE DELUGE.
WHOLE BUILDINGS WERE
PERFECTLY PRESERVED.
TODAY, ONE CAN WALK
THROUGH HERCULANEUM'S
EXQUISITE PUBLIC BATHS,
SEEING THEM MUCH AS THE TOWN'S
RESIDENTS DID CENTURIES AGO.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE SUBURBAN BATHS
ARE PROBABLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
SURVIVING BATHS
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD.
THEY'RE NOT AS BIG
AS THE GREAT BIG BATHS IN ROME,
BUT THEY'RE MUCH
BETTER PRESERVED.
YOU CAN BE
IN A ROOM THAT IS ANCIENT
FROM THE FLOOR THROUGH THE WALLS
TO THE CEILING.
YOU'RE IN A COMPLETE
ANCIENT ENVIRONMENT.
Narrator: ON A NORMAL DAY,
THE PUBLIC BATHS
WOULD HAVE BEEN PACKED.
CITIZENS CAME HERE
TO WASH AND SWIM.
BUSINESSMEN CAME
TO ENTERTAIN CLIENTS,
POLITICIANS TO DO DEALS.
BUT WHEN THE BATHS
WERE EXCAVATED,
NO BODIES WERE FOUND.
THE SAME WAS TRUE
THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill:
ONE OF THE GREAT SURPRISES
ABOUT HERCULANEUM
WAS ALWAYS
THE GREAT RARITY OF SKELETONS
AT THE MAIN LEVEL
WERE THE HOUSES ARE.
THERE WAS NO PUMICE FALL
AS THERE WAS IN POMPEII,
WHICH SENT PEOPLE INTO A PANIC,
SENT THEM SCATTERING
IN ALL DIRECTIONS
TRYING TO SHELTER.
Narrator: THE ABSENCE OF BODIES
LED TO AN ASSUMPTION
THAT EVERYONE MANAGED TO ESCAPE
BEFORE THE SUFFOCATING
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SURGED THROUGH THE TOWN
AND CHOKED EVERY DOORWAY.
WHEN THE ERUPTION FINALLY ENDED,
THE DEVASTATION WAS SO COMPLETE
THAT NO ONE RETURNED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
VERY INTERESTINGLY,
THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT
IN ANTIQUITY
TO BUILD AGAIN
EITHER HERCULANEUM OR POMPEII.
AND I THINK THAT
THERE WAS NOTHING,
THERE WERE NO FOUNDATIONS LEFT
ON WHICH TO BUILD.
THERE WAS NO POINT
IN GOING BACK.
AND I THINK THERE
MUST ALSO HAVE BEEN
A SENSE OF RELIGIOUS HORROR.
A SENSE THAT THIS
WAS A GRAVEYARD
THEY SHOULDN'T TOUCH.
Narrator: BUT POMPEII, AT LEAST,
WAS A GRAVEYARD
FILLED WITH BODIES,
AND THEIR DISCOVERY
THOUSANDS OF YEARS
AFTER THE ERUPTION
HAS TURNED THE CITY
INTO A MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION
AND HISTORICAL SITE.
TODAY, VISITORS ARE CAPTIVATED
BY THE ANCIENT TRAGEDY,
MESMERIZED BY THE CHILLING
INTIMACY OF THE VICTIMS...
SO MUCH MORE REVEALING
THAN THE SHARDS OF POTTERY
AND ANCIENT STONE WALLS
THAT CHARACTERIZE MOST OTHER
ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES.
THESE FIGURES SEEM TO HAVE KNOWN
THEY WERE ABOUT TO DIE,
AND THEY ARE MORE
THAN JUST SKELETONS.
THE VOLCANIC ASH
TURNED THEM INTO DEATH MASKS,
FROZEN IN TIME.
IN THE 1860s,
ARCHAEOLOGIST GIUSEPPE FIORELLI
FOUND STRANGE VOIDS
IN POMPEII'S MOUNDS.
HE POURED PLASTER
INTO THE HOLES,
REVEALING THE CONTORTED HUMAN
FORMS OF THE VOLCANO'S VICTIMS.
THE CORPSES HAD ROTTED AWAY,
BUT THEIR EXACT SHAPES
AND EXPRESSIONS REMAINED.
TRAPPED IN THEIR HOMES,
MOST OF POMPEII'S DEAD
HAD BEEN SUFFOCATED
BY THE POISONOUS GAS AND ASH.
THEIR TERRIBLE DEATHS
AND AGONIZED STARES
HAVE MADE POMPEII FAMOUS.
BUT ACROSS THE BAY,
HERCULANEUM...
WITH ITS DEARTH OF BODIES...
HAS ALMOST BEEN OVERLOOKED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
HERCULANEUM WAS, OF COURSE,
NOT FORGOTTEN AT THE TIME.
EVERYONE REMEMBERED
THE LOSS OF TWO CITIES
AS A TERRIFYING EVENT.
BUT THEN IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
IT WAS CERTAINLY FORGOTTEN.
AND BY THE TIME YOU REACHED
THE 18th CENTURY,
PEOPLE WERE AWARE THAT THIS
WAS THE LEGEND OF THE PLACE,
BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE
A CLEAR IDEA OF EXACTLY
WHICH CITY WAS WHERE.
Narrator: HERCULANEUM BECAME
A MYTHICAL, LANDLOCKED PLACE.
BUT EVENTUALLY,
IT, TOO, WAS REDISCOVERED.
AND WHEN THAT HAPPENED,
IT REVEALED SOME SECRETS
EVEN MORE SURPRISING
THAN THOSE FROM POMPEII.
THE MODERN EXCAVATIONS
OF HERCULANEUM BEGAN
IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY.
SINCE THEN, THE WORK
HAS CONTINUED ON AND OFF,
AND ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE
SLOWLY MADE THEIR WAY
THROUGH THE LAYERS OF EARTH
LAID DOWN
BY THE PYROCLASTIC FLOWS.
EACH NEW DIG HAS
LED TO NEW INSIGHTS
INTO ROMAN LIFE
AT THE TIME OF THE ERUPTION.
BUT STRANGELY, THEY HAVE ALSO
REVEALED STARTLING EVIDENCE
THAT OTHER EXPLORERS
HAD GOTTEN THERE FIRST.
CARVED INTO THE ROCK
IS A STRANGE LABYRINTH
OF ANCIENT TUNNELS,
CREATED BY MYSTERIOUS
TOMB RAIDERS
WHO BURROWED INTO THE CITY
LOOKING FOR TREASURE
IN THE 18th CENTURY.
Wallace-Hadrill:
WHEN THEY EXCAVATED
IN THE 1930s,
THE WHOLE SITE
WAS COVERED WITH THIS STUFF.
THERE'S 30 METERS OF SOLID ROCK,
OR NOT SO MUCH SOLID
BUT CRUMBLY.
YOU CAN SEE THAT
IT COMES AWAY IN MY HANDS.
AND WHEN THEY FIRST EXPLORED IT
IN THE 18th CENTURY,
THEY DID IT BY CUTTING TUNNELS,
AND WHAT WE ARE SEEING HERE
IS VERY TANTALIZINGLY
THE EDGES OF TUNNELS
CUT IN THE 18th CENTURY.
AND HERE YOU CAN SEE,
THEY GOT THIS FAR
AND THEN THEY STOPPED
AND THEY'VE DRAWN A BLANK.
Narrator: BUT WHO
WERE THESE TUNNELERS
AND WHAT WERE THEY SEEKING?
THE STORY GOES
THAT AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE 18th CENTURY,
A FARMER STUMBLED ACROSS
THE RUINS OF HERCULANEUM
WHILE DIGGING A WELL.
HE NOTIFIED THE AUTHORITIES
AND BEFORE LONG,
THE RULERS OF SOUTHERN ITALY,
KNOWN AS THE BOURBONS,
DESCENDED UPON THE SITE.
THE BOURBON KING,
WHO WAS BASED IN NAPLES,
ORDERED HOARDS OF MEN
UNDERGROUND
IN SEARCH OF ARTIFACTS
FOR HIS PALACE.
BEAUTIFUL AND PRICELESS
PIECES WERE FOUND,
BUT MANY WORKERS
SUFFOCATED IN THE TUNNELS
OR WERE KILLED BY ROCK FALLS.
AND THERE WAS NO SENSE
OF PRESERVATION
OR HISTORY AT THE SITE.
THEIR QUEST WAS
ALL ABOUT FINDING THE LOOT
AND GETTING IT OUT.
Wallace-Hadrill: YOU CAN
JUST IMAGINE HOW AWFUL IT WAS
TO EXCAVATE IN THESE CONDITIONS
IN THE 18th CENTURY.
YOU CAN SEE HERE
THERE'S A LITTLE HOLE
THAT THEY HAVE CUT
TO PROP UP A LAMP.
AND THE ONLY ILLUMINATION
THEY'VE GOT
IS THESE LAMPS
IN THESE DARK TUNNELS
GOING FOR YARDS
AND YARDS AND YARDS,
HUNDREDS OF YARDS
UNDER THE SITE.
AND SO THEY GET TO THIS POINT.
THEY'VE CUT THE CEILING
QUITE NICELY,
AND SUDDENLY
IT COMES TO A STOP THERE
AND WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS POINT?
THEY GO OFF TO THE RIGHT
AND IT REACHES A BLANK THERE,
AND THEN IT ALSO
TURNS TO THE LEFT
AND IT REACHES ANOTHER BLANK.
AND NOW THEY'VE BEEN GOING
FOR MAYBE 20, 30 YARDS
WITHOUT HITTING A WALL,
AND SO THEY SAY,
"OBVIOUSLY THERE'S NOTHING HERE,
WE'VE REACHED
THE EDGE OF THE SITE."
WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE THE CITY FINISHED.
Narrator: WHAT THEY DO KNOW
IS THAT THERE IS
STILL MUCH TO BE UNCOVERED.
FOR ANDREW AND HIS TEAM,
THE TUNNELS ARE
A STARTING POINT...
OFFERING A TANTALIZING GLIMPSE
OF THE ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD
BENEATH THE SPRAWLING
MODERN TOWN.
Man: ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING
THINGS ABOUT HERCULANEUM
IS TO TRY AND GUESS
WHAT STILL LIES UNDERNEATH.
WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE
MAJOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS
THAT HAVEN'T BEEN DISCOVERED YET
THAT OUGHT TO BE THERE.
AND ARE THERE LIBRARIES?
ARE THERE OTHER BATHS
THAT WON'T HAVE BEEN
ROBBED BY THE BOURBONS,
THAT WON'T HAVE BEEN STRIPPED
OF ALL THEIR ACCOUTREMENTS?
THINGS THAT CAN TELL US A LOT
ABOUT THE DAILY PROCESSES
OF LIFE WITHIN THE CITY.
Narrator:
ONE NEWLY-DISCOVERED TUNNEL
LEADS TO WHAT ANDREW BELIEVES
WAS ONE OF THE CENTRAL
STRUCTURES IN THE TOWN.
BUT THE ROUTE ONLY GOES SO FAR.
Wallace-Hadrill: THIS IS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
BUILDINGS IN TOWN.
IT WOULD BE A DREAM
TO EXCAVATE IT.
BUT WE CAN'T BECAUSE
RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS,
RIGHT UP THERE,
ARE MODERN HOUSES,
AND IT'S EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
HERE, YOU'VE GOT
THE TOP OF A COLUMN SHAFT.
HERE'S ITS BOTTOM.
AND IT'S THE SHEER FORCE
OF THE ERUPTION
HAS BROUGHT IT DOWN LIKE THIS.
THE ROW OF COLUMNS GOES ON THERE
AND THEN IT GOES ON THAT WAY.
WHAT YOU'VE GOT IS THE SHAPE,
LIKE A CHURCH,
OR LIKE WHAT WE CALL A BASILICA,
A CHRISTIAN BASILICA,
WITH COLUMNS GOING
AROUND THE EDGES
AND THEN A BIG ROW
OF COLUMNS DOWN THE CENTER.
Narrator: THE BASILICA WAS
A MEETING PLACE AND LAW COURT,
WHERE MAGISTRATES GATHERED
TO SETTLE DISPUTES.
FROM MAPS DRAWN BY THE BOURBONS,
IT'S POSSIBLE TO RECONSTRUCT
THE IMPOSING BUILDING...
AND SEE WHAT
THE BOURBONS DESTROYED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
IF WE CAN SORT OF FOLLOW ALONG
LIKE THE BOURBONS,
INTO THE WARREN,
HERE IS A WONDERFUL
FRAGMENT OF A FRESCO.
LOOK UP HERE.
WHAT THEY DID WAS TO HACK OUT
ANYTHING THAT THEY SAW
THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL,
BECAUSE THEY WERE INTERESTED
IN TREASURES FOR THE PALACE.
AND SO THEY FIND
A BEAUTIFUL FRESCO THERE,
AND THEY HACK IT OUT
AND THEY SEND IT UP TOP,
AND THEN THEY JUST
BACKFILL IT AND ABANDON IT.
SEE THOSE LITTLE
BITS OF WOOD THERE?
THAT'S A TRELLIS THAT
WAS IN FRONT OF A WINDOW
AND IT'S SLIPPED DOWN
FROM ABOVE.
AND THEN IF YOU LOOK
ALONG THERE,
YOU ARE SEEING
WHERE THE TUNNEL GOES.
RIGHT ROUND THE BACK.
Narrator: THE BOURBONS'
RUTHLESS PURSUIT OF ROMAN ART
LED TO SPECTACULAR FINDS.
BUT THEY LARGELY DISREGARDED
THE CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
FROM WHICH
THE STUNNING OBJECTS CAME.
Roberts: THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST
EXPLORED POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM
DIDN'T OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE VALUES
THAT WE WOULD HAVE TODAY
IF WE WERE EXPLORING THE CITIES,
BUT FOR THEIR TIME,
THEY WERE INTERESTED IN THE ART.
THEY WEREN'T REALLY INTERESTED
IN THE CONTEXT,
SO BY TODAY'S STANDARDS,
THEY WERE NOT ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
Narrator: FORTUNATELY,
THE BOURBONS DIDN'T
TAKE EVERYTHING.
TODAY'S ARCHAEOLOGISTS
OFTEN COME UP
WITH THEIR OWN
EXTRAORDINARY FINDS.
THIS RARE, FRAGILE PAINTED HEAD
WAS RECENTLY DISCOVERED
NEAR THE BASILICA.
ITS CONSERVATION
IS BEING OVERSEEN
BY DR. MONICA CASTALDI,
WHO IS MAKING SURE
ITS FINDERS PROTECT IT
AS WELL AS THE EARTH HAS.
Woman: I RECEIVED
A TELEPHONE CALL
SAYING A PAINTED HEAD WAS FOUND.
AND I JUST SAID, "PLEASE
KEEP IT WET AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
PUT IT INTO A PLASTIC BAG.
DON'T LET IT DRY."
OBJECTS ARE USED
TO BEING IN WET CLIMATE,
AND THEY DRY TOO QUICKLY,
AND THEY CAN DISINTEGRATE.
THE PAINT LAYER
COULD HAVE BEEN DAMAGED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT IT
IS THAT MONICA WAS THERE FOR IT,
TO HAVE A CONSERVATOR ACTUALLY
INVOLVED IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY.
SO MANY HEADS MUST HAVE BEEN
FOUND IN THE PAST WITH PAINT,
BUT WAS SIMPLY WASHED AWAY.
AND THAT MEANS THAT
WE HAVE A FANTASTIC INSIGHT
INTO THE BIG MYSTERY OF WHAT
A COLORED STATUE HEAD WAS LIKE.
YOU CAN SEE HOW WONDERFULLY
DELICATE THE PAINTWORK IS,
AND YOU SEE HOW IT CONCENTRATES
AROUND THE AREA OF THE EYE.
IT BRINGS IT TO LIFE,
BECAUSE FOR THE ANCIENTS,
THE LIFE RESIDES IN THE EYE.
YOU CAN SEE INTO THE SOUL
THROUGH THE EYE.
Narrator:
THE HEAD IS BELIEVED TO BE
THAT OF AN AMAZON WARRIOR WOMAN,
A POPULAR MYTHICAL FIGURE
OF THE TIME.
IT PROBABLY CAME
FROM THE BASILICA,
WHERE MANY SUCH STATUES
WOULD HAVE STOOD.
UNLIKE THE BOURBONS,
ANDREW AND HIS TEAM ARE
MAKING SPECIAL EFFORTS
TO STUDY HERCULANEUM'S
SPECTACULAR ART
IN ITS ORIGINAL ENVIRONMENT.
THIS ALLOWS THEM
TO TRULY APPRECIATE
THE COLORFUL ROMAN WORLD
THEY ARE EXPLORING.
IT GIVES THEM THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BUILD A COMPLETE PICTURE
OF A LIVING, BREATHING
ANCIENT TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill: WHAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM VERY SPECIAL,
AND UNLIKE POMPEII,
IS THAT ORGANIC MATERIAL
IS PRESERVED,
AND THAT EVERYTHING IS PRESERVED
TO A GREATER HEIGHT.
AND THAT MEANS YOU GET
WOODEN STRUCTURES.
YOU GET FOOD, YOU GET CLOTH,
YOU GET CUPBOARDS.
AND YOU ALSO GET UPPER FLOORS.
Narrator: WHILE THE REST
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
WAS BEING SACKED BY INVADERS
OR RAVAGED
BY THE PASSAGE OF TIME,
HERCULANEUM'S PRISTINE
STREETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
WERE KEPT SAFE UNDER 80 FEET
OF VOLCANIC DEBRIS.
IT IS A RARE GLIMPSE OF
THE SCALE OF ROMAN CONSTRUCTION.
BUILDINGS, AVENUES,
WOODEN DOORS AND OTHER
DELICATE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
MAKE THE EXCAVATED TOWN
FEEL LIKE IT COULD
STILL BE LIVED IN TODAY.
ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL THINGS
ABOUT HERCULANEUM IN PARTICULAR
IS THE PRESERVATION
OF SO MUCH WOOD.
AND WOOD SURVIVES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
ONLY FOR 3 MAIN REASONS.
IT'S BEEN BURNT, CARBONIZED.
IT'S BEEN WATERLOGGED.
FOR EXAMPLE,
UP ON HADRIAN'S WALL
YOU FIND WATERLOGGED DEPOSITS.
OR IT'S BEEN DRIED OUT,
AS YOU MIGHT FIND, SAY,
IN THE DESERT IN EGYPT.
BUT AT HERCULANEUM,
BECAUSE THE PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SCORCHED EVERYTHING,
YOU HAVE STAIRCASES, CEILINGS,
SHELVES, FURNITURE.
Narrator:
MANY OF THE MOST FRAGILE
AND REVEALING DISCOVERIES
LIE HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW.
Wallace-Hadrill: IN HERE WE HAVE
ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
FEATURES OF THE SITE.
WE HAVE THE CARBONIZED
WOODEN FURNITURE.
AND YOU SEE ROWS AND ROWS
OF THIS FURNITURE.
HERE, FOR INSTANCE,
YOU'VE GOT A BED,
AND YOU CAN SEE
THE WOODEN FRAME OF THE BED.
BUT ALSO ALL AROUND IT
THIS BEAUTIFUL EDGING
WORK IN MARQUETRY.
IT'S PRESERVED LIKE THIS
BECAUSE OF THE UNIQUE WAY
THAT THE SITE IS DESTROYED.
AN AVALANCHE OF HYPER-HEATED
PYROCLASTIC FLOW COMING DOWN
TURNS THE WOOD INSTANTLY,
COOKS IT AT THIS
VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE,
AND YOU CAN SEE OVER HERE
HOW BLACK THIS CHEST IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE CRACKS
RUNNING ON IT.
ALL THE VAPOR
HAS BEEN DRIVEN OFF
AND THE WOOD
HAS TURNED TO CARBON.
AND LIKE THAT, IT CAN SURVIVE.
MOST OF THE FURNITURE
IS CARBONIZED LIKE THAT.
EVERY NOW AND AGAIN,
VERY, VERY RARELY,
YOU GET REAL WOOD,
NON-CARBONIZED WOOD.
THIS IS A LITTLE DOOR
FROM A CUPBOARD OR SOMETHING,
AND YOU CAN SEE THESE BEAUTIFUL
DETAILS OF WOODWORK AROUND IT.
AND THIS MUST HAVE BEEN HIT
BY A PYROCLASTIC FLOW
AT A MUCH LOWER TEMPERATURE.
AND IT'S NOT JUST WOOD.
ALL SORTS OF ORGANIC
MATERIAL SURVIVE.
HERE, FOR INSTANCE,
YOU HAVE A WICKER BASKET,
PERHAPS FOR FISHING;
WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHAT.
AND HERE, ONE OF THE REALLY
ASTONISHING FINDS FROM THE SITE:
A ROMAN LOAF.
A ROMAN LOAF, DIVIDED INTO
ITS LITTLE SLICES OF BREAD
WHICH ACTUALLY HAS
THE NAME OF THE GUY
WHO WAS GOING TO CONSUME IT,
STAMPED ON IT.
YOU CAN SEE AN "A" OR A "V"
AND AN "M" THERE.
AND WHAT YOU DID WAS
YOU PUT YOUR NAME ON
SO YOU'D GET THE RIGHT LOAF
BACK OUT OF THE OVEN.
Narrator: THAT A LOAF OF BREAD
CAN SURVIVE 2,000 YEARS
IS EXTRAORDINARY ENOUGH,
BUT IN SUBTERRANEAN HERCULANEUM,
EVEN MORE BASIC DETAILS OF
DAILY LIFE HAVE BEEN PRESERVED.
THIS IS THE ANCIENT SEWER,
WHICH RAN BENEATH
MOST OF THE HOUSES.
IN IT, PROFESSOR MARK ROBINSON
HAS FOUND BROKEN SHARDS OF POTS
AND KITCHEN REFUSE,
INDICATING THAT IT WAS USED
FOR GENERAL GARBAGE DISPOSAL,
AS WELL AS FOR HUMAN WASTE.
Man: IT'S QUITE A USUAL PRACTICE
FOR THE ROMAN LATRINES
TO BE IN THE KITCHEN.
YOU COULD DO YOUR WASHING UP,
YOU COULD THROW YOUR KITCHEN
WASTE DOWN THE TOILET SHAFT,
WHICH IS MUCH MORE
OF A WASTE DISPOSAL SHAFT
RATHER THAN
JUST A LATRINE SHAFT.
Narrator: HIDDEN IN THE DIRT
IS A RARE GLIMPSE
OF THE ROMAN DIET.
THE FINDS MAY EVEN SHOW WHAT
SOME CITIZENS HAD BEEN EATING
IN HERCULANEUM'S FINAL HOURS.
Robinson: THE FIRST ITEM HERE
IS A PARTLY-MINERALIZED
CHERRY STONE,
THEN ON TO AN APPLE PIP.
THESE THINGS ARE A GROUP
OF MINERALIZED GRAPE PIPS.
AND FINALLY,
LARGE NUMBERS OF FIG SEEDS
WERE PRESENT IN THE SAMPLES.
SOME OF THIS MATERIAL
COULD WELL BE
FROM SOME OF THE LAST MEALS
EATEN AT HERCULANEUM,
BECAUSE THE DEPOSITS
THAT HAVE BEEN SAMPLED
ARE THE UPPERMOST LAYERS
OF THE EXCREMENT MATERIAL
IN THE SEWER.
Narrator: THE WATER
THAT DRAINED INTO THE SEWER
ARRIVED VIA
A CAREFULLY-DESIGNED AQUEDUCT...
A STUNNING EXAMPLE
OF ADVANCED ROMAN ENGINEERING.
A FEW MILES
NORTHWEST OF HERCULANEUM,
IN THE MODERN CITY OF NAPLES,
A SIMILAR AQUEDUCT
STILL SPANS A BUSY STREET.
THE AQUA AUGUSTA PROVIDED
WATER FOR ALL THE TOWNS
AROUND VESUVIUS.
Man: THE ROMANS DEVELOPED
A WHOLE SCIENCE, IF YOU LIKE,
OF AQUEDUCT TECHNOLOGY.
THAT'S CONTROLLING THE GRADIENT,
CONTROLLING WATER PRESSURE,
PROVIDING RELIABLE
MASONRY STRUCTURES
THAT WOULD CARRY THE WATER
FROM THE SOURCE,
AND TRACK IT ALL THE WAY
DOWN TO WHERE IT WAS NEEDED.
THE MOST FAMILIAR IMPRESSION
OF THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT TODAY
IS A WHOLE SERIES OF ARCHES
AND AN ARCADE CARRYING
THE WATER ALONG THE TOP.
ACTUALLY, THAT'S SOMETHING
THAT THE ROMANS
ONLY USUALLY EMPLOYED
TO CARRY WATER ACROSS
LOWER AREAS LIKE VALLEYS.
MOST AQUEDUCTS WERE
ACTUALLY CHANNELS,
BURIED INTO THE GROUND,
UNDERGROUND CHANNELS.
Narrator:
FROM THESE FEEDER CHANNELS,
THE WATER WAS
FILTERED AND DIVIDED
AT WATER PLANTS
ON THE EDGE OF EACH TOWN.
AT THIS PLANT, WATER WAS SPLIT
INTO 3 DIFFERENT PATHS.
ONE SUPPLIED THE PUBLIC BATHS,
ANOTHER FED THE PRIVATE HOUSES
OF THE WEALTHY,
AND A THIRD SUPPLIED
THE PUBLIC FOUNTAINS.
THE DIVIDING TOWER WAS BUILT
AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE TOWN
SO THAT THE WATER PRESSURE
COULD BE CONTROLLED.
IF THE PRESSURE FLOWING
INTO TOWN GOT TOO GREAT,
THE WATER WAS
FORCED UP INTO TANKS
AT THE TOP OF SMALLER TOWERS
SITUATED AROUND THE TOWN.
THIS REDUCED THE PRESSURE,
AND SENT
A STEADY SUPPLY OF WATER
COURSING INTO
THE FOUNTAINS AND BATHS.
De La Bedoyere:
THE SYSTEM WAS CALLED
"CONSTANT OFFTAKE"...
IT FLOWED THE WHOLE TIME.
SO YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE A TOWN
WHERE THE PUBLIC TAPS
ARE REALLY NEVER TURNED OFF.
THERE WAS WATER FLOWING
THROUGH IT THE WHOLE TIME.
PROVIDING WATER
FOR THEIR POPULATIONS
WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST BENEFITS
OF BEING PART
OF THE ROMAN WORLD,
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.
AND IT'S A KIND OF A TRAGEDY
THAT SO MUCH OF THAT FELL APART
AFTER THE END
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
IT TOOK UNTIL
THE 19th CENTURY, REALLY,
BEFORE PEOPLE
LEARNED AGAIN THE VALUE
OF PROVIDING A RELIABLE
PUBLIC FRESH WATER SUPPLY.
Narrator: BUT FOR THE CITIZENS
OF HERCULANEUM
AND THE OTHER TOWNS AT THE FOOT
OF VESUVIUS,
MADE FOR EASY LIVING.
Wallace-Hadrill:
BY ITS FINAL PERIOD,
HERCULANEUM WAS
A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE.
THERE WAS PEACE AND PROSPERITY
ON THE BAY OF NAPLES,
AND THERE WERE GLORIOUS HOUSES
LOOKING OUT OVER THE BAY,
AND LIFE MUST'VE BEEN VERY GOOD.
Narrator:
THIS WAS THE WAY OF LIFE
DESTROYED OVER A FEW
DEADLY HOURS IN 79 A.D..
BUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
REMAINED A MYSTERY
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
NOT UNTIL 20 YEARS AGO
DID THE HORRIFYING TRUTH
FINALLY BEGIN TO EMERGE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAD TO DIG DEEP
TO LEARN HOW HERCULANEUM'S DEAD
DIFFERED FROM THE BODIES
IN POMPEII.
FOR A LONG TIME IT WAS THOUGHT
THAT EVERYBODY MUST HAVE
ESCAPED FROM HERCULANEUM.
ONLY A FEW DOZEN SKELETONS
WERE FOUND.
AND IT WASN'T UNTIL
THEY STARTED GOING RIGHT DOWN
TO THE LEVEL OF THE ANCIENT SEA
THAT A SERIES OF ARCHES PRODUCED
THE MOST DRAMATIC EVIDENCE
OF WHAT HAPPENED TO
THE INHABITANTS OF HERCULANEUM.
DOZENS OF BODIES LYING HUDDLED
FOR PROTECTION IN THESE ARCADES.
Narrator: THE FRAGILE BONES
WERE ONE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
FINDS OF THE CENTURY.
STUDYING THE SKELETONS,
BIO-ANTHROPOLOGIST
PIERPAOLO PETRONE
SEARCHED FOR DETAILS
ABOUT THESE VICTIMS'
TERRIFYING FINAL MOMENTS.
DR. PETRONE BELIEVES
THAT THE SKELETONS SHOW SIGNS
OF A VIOLENT REFLEX REACTION
TO INTENSE HEAT,
A REACTION THAT
CONTORTED THEIR LIMBS
IN A POWERFUL,
THERMAL-INDUCED CONTRACTION.
HERE WE HAVE A GOOD EXAMPLE
OF A CONTRACTED HAND.
IN FACT, ALL THE HANDS
AND FEET OF THESE PEOPLE
UNDERWENT
THERMAL-INDUCED CONTRACTION,
INDUCED BY THE DIRECT EFFECT OF
THE HEAT ON THE SKIN RECEPTORS.
SO JUST IN ONE SECOND,
THEY GOT THIS KIND
OF CONTRACTION
OF UPPER AND LOWER LIMBS...
IN THIS CASE, A HAND.
AND HERE WE HAVE A CAST
OF THE FOOT, CONTRACTED,
IT'S A VERY EVIDENT HERE
OF THE CONTRACTION OF TOES.
UNNATURAL IN THE NORMAL POSITION
OF A LIVING PERSON.
Narrator:
THE PEOPLE IN THE BOAT SHEDS
WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
BEFORE THEY KNEW WHAT HIT THEM.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE LATEST SCIENTIFIC WORK
HAS SHOWN EXACTLY
HOW PEOPLE DIED.
THE SKELETONS SHOW SIGNS
OF THERMAL SHOCK.
A WAVE OF VERY HOT GAS,
400, 500 DEGREES CENTIGRADE,
HIT THEM AND MAKES
THEIR FLESH EVAPORATE,
AND THEY DIE INSTANTLY.
Narrator: ANYONE WHO HADN'T
ESCAPED HERCULANEUM BY MIDNIGHT
WOULD HAVE BEEN VAPORIZED
BY THE FIRST SUPERHEATED
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
THAT SURGED DOWN FROM VESUVIUS.
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
VARY IN TEMPERATURE;
YOU CAN HAVE COLD FLOWS,
AND YOU CAN HAVE SUPERCHARGED,
EXCEPTIONALLY HOT FLOWS.
NOW YOU IMAGINE IT,
YOU'RE NOT ENTIRELY SURE
HOW YOU WOULD DIE
IN ONE OF THESE THINGS.
IF IT'S COLD, YOU'D SUFFOCATE,
BECAUSE IT'S VERY FLUID.
THE ASH GETS INTO YOUR THROAT
AND, EFFECTIVELY, YOU DROWNED.
OR IF THEY'RE VERY, VERY HOT,
YOU BECOME INCINERATED
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.
Narrator: FROM THE SKELETONS,
DR. PETRONE BELIEVES
HE CAN EVEN TELL
HOW HOT THE KILLER FLOWS WERE.
Petrone: IN THIS CASE,
WE HAVE BLACKENING
OF THE INNER PART
AND SOME VERY CLEAR FRACTURES
WHICH SHOW THAT
THE TEMPERATURES OF EXPOSURE
WERE ABOUT 400 OR 500 DEGREES
IN THIS CASE.
Narrator: THE INTENSE HEAT
CAUSED BRAINS TO BOIL
AND SKULLS TO EXPLODE.
Petrone: SO THE FIRST
EFFECT OF THE HEAT
WAS THE CONTRACTION
OF HAND AND FEET,
BECAUSE IT TOOK JUST ONE SECOND.
AND THEN LATER,
WE HAVE THE EFFECTS
ON THE BONES,
ON TEETH, ON SKULLS,
EXPLOSION OF SKULLS.
FRACTURES OF THE LONG BONES,
OF TEETH,
AND THEN RAPID VAPORIZATION.
SO ALL THE EFFECTS
ARE VERY SUDDEN,
BUT AFTER THE DEATH
OF THE PEOPLE,
SO THE PEOPLE
DIDN'T FEEL ANYTHING.
Narrator: AS THEY DIED,
HOT ASH
IMMEDIATELY ENTOMBED THEM,
KEEPING THEIR SKELETONS INTACT.
HERE, A CHILD LOOKS AS IF IT'S
BEING COMFORTED BY ITS MOTHER.
THE TINY BONES OF A FETUS
FOUND BENEATH THE WOMAN
INDICATE SHE WAS 7 MONTHS
PREGNANT WHEN SHE DIED.
IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT
THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
HID IN THE BOAT SHEDS,
HOPING FOR RESCUE FROM THE SEA.
BUT IF THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO EVACUATE THE TOWN,
NOT EVERYONE GOT OUT IN TIME.
Wallace-Hadrill: IT'S CLEAR
THAT THEY HAD TAKEN REFUGE
AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT,
AND THEY'VE PROBABLY
GOT ABOUT 10 MINUTES
WHEN THE FLOW STARTS
COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE.
AND THE BEST PLACE
TO TAKE REFUGE
WAS RIGHT DOWN BY THE SHORE,
UNDERNEATH THESE GREAT
MASSIVE CONCRETE VAULTS.
THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN
VERY GOOD PROTECTION,
OR PROTECTION AGAINST ANYTHING
EXCEPT A PYROCLASTIC FLOW.
THOUGH WE'VE ALREADY DISCOVERED
ABOUT 300 SKELETONS,
THERE MUST BE MORE.
Narrator: IT'S UNLIKELY
WE WILL EVER KNOW
EXACTLY HOW MANY PEOPLE
WERE SWALLOWED UP
BY VESUVIUS' PYROCLASTIC FLOWS.
BUT THE DISCOVERY
OF SO MANY BODIES
HAS STARTED TO CHANGE OUR VIEW
OF THIS ONCE-FORGOTTEN TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill:
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOK AT
THE TRAGEDY OF HERCULANEUM
WITHOUT BEING MOVED...
TO LOOK AT THEIR AWFUL SKELETONS
AND TO THINK
OF THEIR AWFUL DEATH.
THE IRONY
OF WORKING IN HERCULANEUM
IS THAT OTHER PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY
IS OUR GOOD LUCK.
THEIR DESTRUCTION IS
ALSO THEIR SURVIVAL.
SO YOU CAN'T JUST BE UPSET
BY THEIR HORRIBLE END,
BECAUSE IT GIVES US
A FABULOUS CHANCE TO STUDY THEM.
Narrator: SO MUCH CAN BE LEARNED
ABOUT THE LIVES
OF THE ANCIENT ROMANS,
BUT THE REMAINS ALSO PROVIDE
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
TO WARN CURRENT RESIDENTS
ABOUT THE PERILS OF LIVING
IN THE SHADOW OF A VOLCANO.
TODAY ON THE BAY OF NAPLES,
THE THREAT FROM VESUVIUS IS JUST
AS ACUTE AS IT WAS IN 79 A.D.
VULCANOLOGIST
DR. GIUSEPPE MASTROLORENZO
SPENDS HIS TIME ANALYZING
JUST HOW HIGH THE RISK IS
AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
HE LOOKS FOR EARLY SIGNS
OF A PENDING ERUPTION.
Man: PRECURSORS NORMALLY LAST
FOR WEEKS TO MONTHS.
AND PRECURSORS
INCLUDE EARTHQUAKES,
WHICH ARE INDICATORS
OF SOMETHING HAPPENING
BENEATH THE VOLCANO.
Narrator: VESUVIUS
AND THE SURROUNDING REGION
ARE MONITORED 24 HOURS A DAY,
7 DAYS A WEEK.
EVEN THE ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO
KEEP THE OBSERVERS
ON THEIR TOES.
THE MOUNTAIN'S SLEEP
IS A RESTLESS ONE.
Man: THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE
ABOUT AT 2:00 THIS MORNING.
THIS IS VERY SMALL EARTHQUAKE.
AND HERE WE RECORD ABOUT,
LET'S SAY, 100 OR 200
EARTHQUAKES OF THIS KIND
DURING ONE... PER YEAR.
SO THIS IS THE NORMAL
ACTIVITY OF THE VOLCANO.
AND UNTIL THIS IS THE ACTIVITY,
WE ARE SURE THAT THERE
IS NOTHING THAT SHOWS US
THAT VESUVIUS IS GOING TO ERUPT.
OF COURSE, IF WE SEE
AN INCREASE IN SEISMICITY,
IF THERE ARE MANY EARTHQUAKES
IN ONE DAY,
OF COURSE, THIS MEANS
THAT THE VOLCANO IS
CHANGING ITS ACTIVITY
AND IS GOING TOWARDS A CRISIS.
Narrator: THE OFFICIAL LINE
IS THAT A MAJOR ERUPTION
IS UNLIKELY TO OCCUR
ANY TIME SOON,
AND AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THAT
THEIR SENSORS WILL GIVE THEM
AT LEAST TWO WEEKS' NOTICE
WHEN ONE DOES COME.
DR. MASTROLORENZO
IS NOT SO SURE.
Voice-over: I DON'T KNOW
WHEN VESUVIUS WILL ERUPT AGAIN.
I JUST KNOW
THAT A VOLCANO LIKE THIS
MAY CHANGE FROM THIS STATE
TO THE CRITICAL CONDITIONS
IN A FEW DAYS.
Narrator:
AND WHEN THAT CHANGE HAPPENS,
DR. MASTROLORENZO
HAS SOME SERIOUS CONCERNS
ABOUT THE AREA'S ABILITY
TO HANDLE IT.
Mastrolorenzo:
PRESENT EVACUATION PLAN
HAS BEEN BASED
ON A MINOR ERUPTION
LIKE THE ONE THAT
OCCURRED IN 1631,
WHICH IS NOT SO BIG
LIKE THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION.
I DON'T KNOW
IF THE PEOPLE REALLY THINK
THAT AN ERUPTION
LIKE THAT MAY OCCUR
IN THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFE.
BUT IT COULD.
Narrator: AN ERUPTION
LIKE THE ONE IN 79 A.D...
OR EVEN BIGGER.
Davis: IN TERMS
OF A.D. 79 ERUPTION,
IS THAT THE WORST YOU COULD GET
FORM VESUVIUS?
PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY NOT.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RECORD,
THE ROCK RECORD,
AND YOU GO BACK THROUGH TIME,
GEOLOGICAL TIME,
YOU SEE MANY DIFFERENT
LARGE-SCALE ERUPTIONS,
SOME OF THEM BIGGER
THAN THE A.D. 79 ERUPTION.
Narrator: BUT IT SEEMS
THE WARNING IS GOING UNHEARD.
THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION WIPED OUT
POMPEII, HERCULANEUM,
AND MOST OF THE BAY OF NAPLES.
TODAY, THAT SAME AREA
IS HOME TO 6 MILLION PEOPLE.
THE EVACUATION PLAN
ONLY ACCOUNTS FOR 600,000.
THESE MODERN ITALIANS,
LIKE THEIR UNFORTUNATE
ROMAN ANCESTORS,
ARE SITTING ON A TIME BOMB.
Davies: WHAT MAKES A VOLCANO
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
IS NOT ITS STYLE OF ACTIVITY;
IT'S THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE
THAT LIVE AT THE FOOTHILLS.
AND, OF COURSE, WITH VESUVIUS,
YOU'VE GOT
SEVERAL MILLION PEOPLE
RIGHT THERE IN NAPLES ITSELF.
AND THE QUESTION BECOMES,
HOW FAST CAN YOU EVACUATE
THOSE PEOPLE
WHEN THE VOLCANO
STARTS TO ESCALATE?
Narrator:
DESPITE ALL THE MONITORING,
TODAY'S RESIDENTS MAY BE
NO MORE PREPARED TO DEAL
WITH AN ERUPTION
THAN THE CITIZENS
OF ANCIENT HERCULANEUM.
Wallace-Hadrill:
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BUILDING
RIGHT UNDER VESUVIUS,
RIGHT THROUGH HISTORY.
NOT JUST THE ROMANS,
BUT MILLENNIA BEFORE
WE KNOW THAT HUMANS
HAVE LIVED HERE.
VESUVIUS ONLY ERUPTS
VERY RARELY,
AND PEOPLE JUST CAN'T REMEMBER
THE LAST TIME IT ERUPTED.
Narrator: INSTEAD OF LEARNING
FROM HISTORY...
AND FROM THE TRAGIC REMAINS
OF VESUVIUS' DEAD...
THESE MODERN CITIES MAY BE
COURTING THE NEXT BIG DISASTER.
BUILT ON FOUNDATIONS
OF VOLCANIC ROCK AND ASH,
THEY ARE POISED
TO SHARE THE SAME FATE
AS THE TOWNS THEY REPLACED.
WITH ROADS JAMMED
AND ESCAPE ROUTES IMPASSIBLE,
IT IS UNLIKELY MANY WILL ESCAPE
WHEN THE VOLCANO AWAKENS.
LIKE THEIR ANCESTORS,
THESE RESIDENTS MAY END UP
WAITING BY THE WATER
FOR A RESCUE THAT NEVER COMES.
THOUGH IT SEEMS
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE,
THERE MAY COME A TIME
WHEN THESE THRIVING COMMUNITIES
BECOME JUST ONE MORE LAYER,
ENTOMBED BY THE VOLCANO
ABOVE THE VERY BODIES
WHOSE WARNING
THEY FAILED TO HEED.
REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING
ITS FORGOTTEN SECRETS
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
BUT ALSO DESTROYED
THE LOST CITY OF HERCULANEUM.
THE DEVASTATION WAS SPECTACULAR.
Man: PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SCORCHED EVERYTHING.
Announcer: INSTANTLY, BRAINS
BOILED AND HEADS EXPLODED.
YOU BECOME INCINERATED
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.
Announcer: NOW NEW EXCAVATIONS
ARE REVEALING STUNNING DETAILS
ABOUT THE LIFE
AND DEATH OF THE TOWN,
AND PROVIDING A WARNING
FOR THE FUTURE.
"HERCULANEUM UNCOVERED"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Narrator: AUGUST 24th, 79 A.D.
BEGAN LIKE ANY OTHER DAY
IN THE ANCIENT ROMAN TOWN
OF HERCULANEUM.
CITIZENS MET IN THE TOWN SQUARE,
DISCUSSED A LITTLE POLITICS,
TALKED BUSINESS
OVER LAVISH LUNCHES.
LIKE ITS NEIGHBOR POMPEII,
HERCULANEUM WAS A SEASIDE TOWN
THRIVING UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
TRADE WAS GOOD;
THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT.
BUT THE CLOCK WAS TICKING
ON THIS IDYLLIC EXISTENCE.
PERCHED ON THE SHORE
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN,
HERCULANEUM STOOD IN THE SHADOW
OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO:
MOUNT VESUVIUS.
Man: THE INHABITANTS
HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA
OF THE DESTRUCTIVE
POWER OF THE VOLCANO.
THEY HAD NO IDEA
OF THE DEGREE OF THE DANGER.
Narrator: NO IDEA,
UNTIL VESUVIUS BURST
SPECTACULARLY TO LIFE.
LIKE POMPEII,
THE TOWN WAS BURIED ALIVE.
2,000 YEARS LATER,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE DIGGING
THROUGH THE VOLCANIC DEBRIS,
TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT HAPPENED
IN HERCULANEUM'S FINAL MOMENTS.
THEY HAVE STUMBLED
UPON THE TUNNELS
OF ANCIENT TOMB RAIDERS
WHO PLUNDERED THE SITE,
AND FOUND
REMARKABLE HUMAN REMAINS
THAT REVEAL EXACTLY
HOW THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
MET THEIR GRUESOME
AND EXPLOSIVE ENDS.
THIS IS THE BAY OF NAPLES,
THE MOST UNSTABLE VOLCANIC
REGION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
VESUVIUS IS AT ITS HEART,
AND THE MOUNTAIN'S DESTRUCTION
OF POMPEII IN 79 A.D.
HAS BECOME AN ICONIC
HISTORICAL DISASTER.
HERCULANEUM'S DEMISE HAS BEEN
FAR LESS WELL-DOCUMENTED.
IT HAS BEEN
THE FORGOTTEN VICTIM,
AND ONLY NOW
IS THE TRUTH ABOUT ITS DOWNFALL
FINALLY COMING TO LIGHT.
ANDREW WALLACE-HADRILL
IS HEAD OF THE HERCULANEUM
CONSERVATION PROJECT.
HIS MISSION IS TO PRESERVE
THE SITE'S TREASURES
AND UNRAVEL ITS UNIQUE STORY.
Man: COMPARED TO POMPEII,
HERCULANEUM
IS A TINY LITTLE TOWN.
IT'S ONLY ABOUT
4,000 INHABITANTS,
WHICH IN OUR TERMS
IS ONLY A BIG VILLAGE.
BUT IT HAD ALL THE FEATURES
OF A MAJOR CITY.
Narrator: WHEN VESUVIUS ERUPTED,
IT TRAPPED HERCULANEUM IN TIME.
IN 79 A.D.,
THE TOWN WAS AT THE CENTER
OF AN EMPIRE IN ITS PRIME.
ROME HAD CONQUERED THE ENTIRE
MEDITERRANEAN AND BEYOND.
ITS DOMINIONS STRETCHED
FROM BRITAIN
ALL THE WAY TO JERUSALEM.
TODAY, THE SITE
OFFERS A UNIQUE WINDOW
INTO THIS ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD.
LIKE A PREHISTORIC INSECT
FROZEN IN AMBER,
IT RETAINS EVERY FEATURE
OF A FORGOTTEN ERA.
EVERY NUANCE OF LIFE
HAS BEEN PRESERVED.
Wallace-Hadrill: WHAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM SPECIAL FOR ME
IS THAT IT YOU HAVE
PROBABLY A BETTER CHANCE
THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
OF PIECING TOGETHER
AN ENTIRE ANCIENT SOCIETY.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT THEIR DIET,
WE HAVE THEIR HOUSES,
WE CAN TALK
ABOUT HOW THEY LIVED,
HOW THEY MADE THEIR MONEY.
WE CAN SEE SO MANY DIFFERENT
ASPECTS IN GREAT DETAIL,
AND THEN PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER
TO MAKE A SOCIETY.
Narrator: WORKING IN AREAS
OFF-LIMITS TO THE PUBLIC,
ANDREW AND A TEAM
OF SCIENTISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS
ARE BUILDING A PICTURE
OF LIFE AND DEATH IN HERCULANEUM
MORE DETAILED THAN EVEN THEY
HAD HOPED TO UNCOVER.
THEY ARE OVERTURNING
THE LONG-HELD BELIEF
THAT EVERYONE HAD
ESCAPED THE ERUPTION,
AND DISCOVERING
THAT THE TOWN'S DEMISE
WAS EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR
AND HORRIFIC THAN POMPEII'S.
THE WAY HERCULANEUM WAS BURIED
ENSURED THAT IT IS
ALSO BETTER PRESERVED
THAN ITS MORE FAMOUS NEIGHBOR,
BUT THE VERY ACT
OF DIGGING IT UP
IS PUTTING ITS TREASURES
AT RISK.
Voice-over:
WHEN WE FIRST CAME ON SITE,
WE NOTICED THAT THERE
WAS DECAY AND COLLAPSE
VIRTUALLY EVERYWHERE,
AND WE STARTED
A SITE-WIDE CAMPAIGN
REALLY RUNNING AROUND
PROPPING UP STUFF
THAT WE THOUGHT
WAS IN A CRITICAL CONDITION
BEFORE IT ACTUALLY
FELL TO PIECES.
A SITE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN ONCE
DESTROYED BY VOLCANIC ACTION
IS INCREDIBLY FRAGILE.
EVERYTHING THAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM PRECIOUS
ALSO MAKES IT FRAGILE.
Narrator: COCOONED FOR CENTURIES
BENEATH VOLCANIC DEBRIS,
HERCULANEUM GROWS MORE AND MORE
UNSTABLE AS IT IS UNCOVERED.
AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT
FOLLOWING PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS,
THE TEAM IS STRUGGLING
TO CONSERVE THE SITE
BEFORE THE TOWN'S PRICELESS
ARTIFACTS ARE LOST FOREVER.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THERE STILL ARE FRESCOES
FALLING OFF THE WALLS
EVERYWHERE.
MOSAIC FLOORS WERE EXPLODING
WITH LITTLE MOSAIC PEBBLES
SPREAD ALL OVER THE PLACE.
WOODEN BEAMS...
WOODEN BEAMS ARE
SOME OF THE REALLY RARE
FEATURES OF THIS SITE.
IT'S EXTRAORDINARY TO SEE
A WOODEN BEAM ABOVE A DOOR,
OR WOODEN SHUTTERS
OUTSIDE WINDOWS.
AND YET THEY WERE
CRUMBLING AWAY.
Narrator:
IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME
TO PRESERVE THESE EXISTING FINDS
BEFORE THEY WASTE AWAY.
AND THERE IS STILL MORE TREASURE
TO BE FOUND.
ONLY A FRACTION OF THE TOWN
HAS BEEN EXCAVATED,
AND MUCH OF THE CITY STILL LIES
PERFECTLY ENTOMBED UNDERGROUND.
BUT GETTING TO IT IS NOT AS EASY
AS PICKING UP A SHOVEL,
BECAUSE MODERN ITALIANS
HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THE SITE
JUST AS THE ANCIENT ROMANS WERE.
TODAY, THERE ARE 650,000 PEOPLE
LIVING ABOVE THE RUINS
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Man: YOU FIND
SETTLEMENTS ON VOLCANOES
FOR ONE SPECIFIC REASON,
AND THAT'S THE FACT THAT
THE SOIL THAT VOLCANOES PRODUCE
ARE RICH IN NUTRIENTS, MINERALS.
IT RETAINS WATER LIKE A SPONGE.
SO THEREFORE IT STANDS TO REASON
THAT WHEN THEY PLANT
THEIR CROPS,
THEY GET FANTASTIC FOOD FROM IT.
AND THAT'S WHY THEY SIT
ON THE SIDE OF THESE VOLCANOES.
Narrator: THESE DAYS,
IT'S A CALCULATED RISK.
PEOPLE KNOW
THE VOLCANO IS ACTIVE,
BUT ARE WILLING
TO TAKE THEIR CHANCES.
THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE
AN ERUPTION WILL HAPPEN
DURING THEIR LIFETIMES.
DURING ROMAN TIMES,
THE RESIDENTS DIDN'T KNOW
THEY HAD ANYTHING
TO WORRY ABOUT.
Davies: YOU HAVE TO BEAR IN MIND
THAT VULCANOLOGY WASN'T
A SUBJECT IN THOSE DAYS.
NO ONE KNEW WHEN THEY LOOKED
AT THE ROCK STRATA
THAT, OH, YEAH, THERE'S BEEN
AN ERUPTION IN THIS AREA.
SO PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW
THAT VESUVIUS WAS
ACTUALLY GOING TO BLOW.
Narrator: THE ROMANS HAD NO IDEA
THEIR MOUNTAIN
WAS EVEN A VOLCANO.
MOST OF THE TIME,
VESUVIUS SEEMS
DECEPTIVELY DORMANT.
BUT DEEP BELOW GROUND,
THE VERY FABRIC OF THE EARTH
IS ALWAYS ON THE MOVE.
THROUGH A WEAK SPOT
IN THE EARTH'S CRUST,
BURNING MAGMA SEEPS
INTO A MASSIVE CHAMBER
THAT STRETCHES FOR MILES
BENEATH HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII.
IN 79 A.D., THAT CHAMBER HAD
FILLED TO THE BURSTING POINT.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THEY HAD NO IDEA
OF THE DEGREE OF THE DANGER.
THEY EVEN HAD WARNINGS
OF THE ONCOMING DANGER.
WE NOW KNOW THAT THE EARTHQUAKE
17 YEARS BEFORE THE ERUPTION
WAS A PRECURSOR TO THE ERUPTION.
THEY COULDN'T READ IT LIKE THAT.
PEOPLE WERE WELL AWARE
OF EARTHQUAKES
AS A SOURCE OF DANGER.
AND TRADITIONALLY THEY SAW THEM
AS THE RESULT
OF THE WRATH OF POSEIDON,
THE WRATH OF THE SEA GOD
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
Narrator: BY AUGUST
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SIGNS
THAT THE GODS WERE ANGRY.
WHAT HAPPENS IS THE MAGMA
IS TRYING TO GET TO THE SURFACE,
IT'S ACCOMMODATING THE SPACE,
AND YOU GET
FRACTURES OPENING UP.
BUT WHEN YOU REALLY START TO
KNOW THAT SOMETHING'S HAPPENING
IS THAT IN FRONT OF THAT MAGMA
IS LOTS OF STEAM.
IT'S VERY, VERY HOT,
LOTS OF GASES,
SO THOSE WOULD HAVE
BEEN VENTING FIRST.
PRESSURE IS BUILDING UP
AND BUILDING UP
UNTIL EVENTUALLY, IT JUST SNAPS.
Narrator: VESUVIUS ERUPTED
AROUND 1:00 P.M. ON AUGUST 24th,
THROWING A BROILING, CHURNING
COLUMN OF GAS AND ASH
HIGH INTO THE AIR.
Davies: NOW THIS ASH COLUMN
WOULD HAVE BEEN GIGANTIC.
I MEAN,
IF YOU WERE DOWN IN POMPEII,
EVEN THAT FAR BACK,
YOU WOULDN'T SEE
OVER THE TOP OF IT,
YOU WOULDN'T SEE
AROUND THE SIDES OF IT.
IT'S MILLIONS
AND MILLIONS OF TONS
OF VOLCANIC DEBRIS
THAT'S THROWN UP INTO THE AIR.
Narrator: WITHIN MINUTES,
THE ERUPTION COLUMN
WAS 10 MILES HIGH.
THE WIND CARRIED THE DEADLY
CLOUD EAST TOWARDS POMPEII.
THE PEOPLE IN HERCULANEUM
WOULD HAVE SEEN THE CLOUD
ENVELOPING THEIR NEIGHBORS.
Davies: THIS IS WHERE
YOU GET LOTS OF PUMICES,
THESE VERY, VERY LIGHT
VOLCANIC ROCK
THAT GET CATAPULTED
WAY UP INTO THE AIR,
INTO THE STRATOSPHERE
IN MANY COUNTS.
THESE DAYS WE WOULD DESCRIBE IT
AS A NUCLEAR MUSHROOM CLOUD,
BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT IT'S LIKE.
Wallace-Hadrill: PERHAPS
THE MOST TERRIFYING THING
OF BEING IN HERCULANEUM
WAS THAT YOU COULD SEE
THE ERUPTION,
WITHOUT BEING COVERED BY IT.
SO YOU COULD SEE THE COLUMN
RISING ABOVE THE VOLCANO,
BUT IT DIDN'T GO DARK
IN HERCULANEUM.
Narrator: IN POMPEII,
DAY TURNED TO NIGHT
AS THE TOWN WAS SWALLOWED
BY THE BLACK VOLCANIC CLOUD.
PUMICE STONES BEGAN
FALLING ON THE ROOFTOPS.
PEOPLE FLED OR HID INSIDE,
HOPING THE STORM WOULD PASS.
CONFUSION AND PANIC SET IN
AS THE ASH BEGAN
TO BURY THE HOUSES.
ARCHAEOLOGIST ANTONIO VARONE
REVEALS HOW SUDDENLY
THE CATASTROPHE ARRIVED.
Second Man: WE ARE IN THE HOUSE
WHERE THE PAINTERS WERE WORKING.
SOMETHING VERY DRAMATIC
IS HAPPENING, THE ERUPTION.
BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THAT.
THE PAINTERS ARE
STILL WORKING IN HERE.
WE CAN SEE THE YOUNGER PAINTER,
WHO'S JUST LAID HIS PLASTER.
THE PLASTER IS STILL FRESH.
IN FACT,
YOU CAN SEE FALLING PUMICE
HAS LEFT CLEAR MARKS
ON THE FRESH PLASTER.
THERE IS ANOTHER PAINTER
WORKING ON THIS WALL.
IT'S THE "PICTOR IMAGINARIUS,"
THE MASTER PAINTER.
HE'S PUT A SHELF IN HERE,
WHERE HE PUT SOME POTS
WITH COLORS.
WE FOUND THEM HERE
WITH THEIR WORK TOOLS.
WE HAVE THE WHITE, THE GREEN,
THE BLACK, THE YELLOW,
THE RED AND THE BLUE.
Narrator: BUT THE PAINTERS NEVER
FINISHED THEIR MASTERPIECE.
EVIDENTLY OUR PAINTER
IS ON A SCAFFOLDING,
AND HE'S HOLDING A POT WITH LIME
TO KEEP THE PAINT WET.
HE MUST HAVE LOST HIS BALANCE
AND SPILT THE LIME
ALL OVER THE PAINTING.
THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY PLACE
WHERE WE CAN FIND
THE PAINTER AT WORK
RATHER THAN
THE FINISHED PAINTING.
WE HAVE FOUND THEIR TOOLS,
BUT WE HAVEN'T FOUND THEM.
WE HOPE THEY RAN AWAY
AND SURVIVED.
Narrator: OUTSIDE,
PUMICE AND ASH
BEGAN TO CHOKE
POMPEII'S STREETS.
NEXT DOOR TO THE PAINTERS,
A BAKER WAS FEARFUL ENOUGH
FOR HIS OWN SAFETY
THAT HE FLED HIS SHOP,
LEAVING HIS VALUABLE LIVESTOCK
BEHIND IN THEIR PADDOCKS.
THIS IS THE STABLE OF A BAKERY.
AS YOU CAN SEE,
NOT ONLY HUMANS DIED,
BUT ALSO ANIMALS.
THESE ARE THE ANIMALS
THAT WORKED THE MILLSTONES.
WE CAN SEE SOME WOODEN STICKS
THAT WERE TIED TO THE COLLAR
OF THE ANIMALS.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN WHIPPED
TO MAKE THEM PUSH THE MILLSTONE.
THEY HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP
IN THE STABLE
BY THE OWNERS WHO RAN FOR IT.
THE OWNERS CERTAINLY THOUGHT
THEY WOULD HAVE COME BACK
AFTERWARDS,
SO THEY LOCKED THE DOOR TO STOP
THE ANIMALS FROM RUNNING AWAY.
HOWEVER, THE ANIMALS
FACED THEIR SAD DESTINY,
LOCKED UP
WITHOUT A WAY OF ESCAPE.
Narrator:
AROUND 5:00 IN THE AFTERNOON,
ROOFTOPS STARTED TO COLLAPSE
UNDER THE WEIGHT
OF THE PUMICE AND ASH.
ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE
THE TERROR IN POMPEII
AS THE WHOLE TOWN
WAS SLOWLY ENTOMBED.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS MUCH SMALLER,
RARE FOOTAGE
FROM A 1944 ERUPTION
REVEALS JUST HOW MUCH DAMAGE
VESUVIUS CAN DO.
RESIDENTS OF THE TOWNS
NEAR THE VOLCANO
WATCHED HELPLESSLY
AS THEIR HOMES WERE DESTROYED
BY A SLOW BUT RELENTLESS
FLOW OF LAVA.
MASS EVACUATIONS SAVED LIVES,
BUT NOTHING COULD BE DONE
TO DIVERT THE SURGE
FROM ITS PATH.
THE SUPERHEATED LAVA ENGULFED
EVERYTHING IT TOUCHED.
Davies: THIS LAVA IS NOT GOING
TO KILL ANYONE INSTANTLY;
IT MOVES INCREDIBLY SLOWLY,
AROUND ABOUT
100 METERS PER HOUR.
SO THAT MEANS THAT IF YOU TAKE
A FOOTBALL-PITCH LENGTH,
IT'LL TAKE OVER AN HOUR
TO GET TO THE END OF IT.
SO YOU CAN OUTWALK IT,
YOU CAN OUTRUN IT,
IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
Narrator:
BUT THE SLOW PACE OF THE LAVA
DID NOT HINDER
ITS DESTRUCTIVENESS.
THE FLOW DECIMATED
VILLAGES, FARMS,
AND 88 U.S. B-25 BOMBERS
THAT WERE STATIONED
JUST EAST OF THE MOUNTAIN.
THE LAVA MOVED SO SLOWLY,
IT GAVE PEOPLE TIME TO SEE
JUST HOW HELPLESS THEY WERE.
PAINFULLY AWARE
OF THEIR OWN VULNERABILITY,
MANY MADE HOLY OFFERINGS
AND PRAYED TO GOD
FOR THEIR SURVIVAL.
THEIR ANCESTORS
PROBABLY DID THE SAME,
THOUGH THEY WOULD HAVE HAD
FAR MORE TO PRAY FOR.
THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION WAS
50 TIMES MORE POWERFUL
THAN THE 1944 BLAST,
WITH THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
OF HUNDREDS OF HIROSHIMA BOMBS.
THE 79 A.D. BLAST HURLED PUMICE
AND ASH ON POMPEII FOR 12 HOURS.
IN HERCULANEUM, MANY FLED,
WHILE OTHERS WATCHED
THE BLACK VOLCANIC CLOUD
BLEND INTO
THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT.
THEY HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING
VESUVIUS WAS ABOUT TO ENTER
ITS NEXT, EVEN DEADLIER PHASE.
AT AROUND MIDNIGHT,
THE VOLCANO'S GIGANTIC
ERUPTION COLUMN COLLAPSED.
WITH THE SPEED OF A HURRICANE,
MOLTEN ROCK, MUD, ASH,
AND SUPERHEATED GAS
HURTLED TOWARDS HERCULANEUM.
CALLED A PYROCLASTIC FLOW,
THIS WAVE OF DESTRUCTION
IS THE MOST VIOLENT EVENT
IN VULCANOLOGY.
IT IS SO QUICK AND DEADLY,
SCIENTISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY
MANAGED TO CAPTURE IT ON FILM.
THIS FLOW HAPPENED
ON THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND
OF MONSERRAT IN THE 1990's.
WHEN THE DUST CLEARED,
IT REVEALED
A SCENE OF COMPLETE RUIN.
EVERYTHING IN THE FLOW'S PATH
WAS DESTROYED.
IN 79 A.D., A SUCCESSION OF
SUPERHEATED PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
HURTLED THROUGH HERCULANEUM
DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
OF AUGUST 25th.
BY 7:00 OR 8:00 A.M.,
COOLER FLOWS
REACHED POMPEII AS WELL.
BUT HERCULANEUM WAS HIT HARDEST
AND BURIED DEEPEST...
IN SOME PLACES,
AS DEEP AS A 4-STORY BUILDING.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE TOWN IS EVENTUALLY BURIED
TO THE DEPTH OF 70, 80 FEET.
BUT THAT TAKES PROBABLY
12 TO 24 HOURS TO ACHIEVE.
PYROCLASTIC SURGES AND FLOWS
COME DOWN ONE AFTER ANOTHER,
AND EACH ADDS
ITS OWN LITTLE BIT.
THEY GATHER STRENGTH.
THEY PRODUCE
MORE AND MORE MATERIAL,
DENSER MATERIAL, AS TIME PASSES.
AND, IN FACT, LONG AFTER
THE CITY HAS BEEN DESTROYED,
IT'S STILL BEING
FILLED UP AND FILLED UP.
Narrator: SO MUCH MATERIAL
WAS DEPOSITED ON THE TOWN
THAT EVEN ITS COASTLINE
CHANGED DRAMATICALLY.
SEASIDE VILLAS ENDED UP
HUNDREDS OF YARDS INLAND
AS VOLCANIC DEBRIS
FILLED IN THE BAY.
BUT IT WOULD
HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE
TO SEE THE MAGNITUDE
OF THE CHANGE,
BECAUSE THE ENTIRE TOWN
DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW
BENEATH THE DELUGE.
WHOLE BUILDINGS WERE
PERFECTLY PRESERVED.
TODAY, ONE CAN WALK
THROUGH HERCULANEUM'S
EXQUISITE PUBLIC BATHS,
SEEING THEM MUCH AS THE TOWN'S
RESIDENTS DID CENTURIES AGO.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE SUBURBAN BATHS
ARE PROBABLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
SURVIVING BATHS
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD.
THEY'RE NOT AS BIG
AS THE GREAT BIG BATHS IN ROME,
BUT THEY'RE MUCH
BETTER PRESERVED.
YOU CAN BE
IN A ROOM THAT IS ANCIENT
FROM THE FLOOR THROUGH THE WALLS
TO THE CEILING.
YOU'RE IN A COMPLETE
ANCIENT ENVIRONMENT.
Narrator: ON A NORMAL DAY,
THE PUBLIC BATHS
WOULD HAVE BEEN PACKED.
CITIZENS CAME HERE
TO WASH AND SWIM.
BUSINESSMEN CAME
TO ENTERTAIN CLIENTS,
POLITICIANS TO DO DEALS.
BUT WHEN THE BATHS
WERE EXCAVATED,
NO BODIES WERE FOUND.
THE SAME WAS TRUE
THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill:
ONE OF THE GREAT SURPRISES
ABOUT HERCULANEUM
WAS ALWAYS
THE GREAT RARITY OF SKELETONS
AT THE MAIN LEVEL
WERE THE HOUSES ARE.
THERE WAS NO PUMICE FALL
AS THERE WAS IN POMPEII,
WHICH SENT PEOPLE INTO A PANIC,
SENT THEM SCATTERING
IN ALL DIRECTIONS
TRYING TO SHELTER.
Narrator: THE ABSENCE OF BODIES
LED TO AN ASSUMPTION
THAT EVERYONE MANAGED TO ESCAPE
BEFORE THE SUFFOCATING
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SURGED THROUGH THE TOWN
AND CHOKED EVERY DOORWAY.
WHEN THE ERUPTION FINALLY ENDED,
THE DEVASTATION WAS SO COMPLETE
THAT NO ONE RETURNED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
VERY INTERESTINGLY,
THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT
IN ANTIQUITY
TO BUILD AGAIN
EITHER HERCULANEUM OR POMPEII.
AND I THINK THAT
THERE WAS NOTHING,
THERE WERE NO FOUNDATIONS LEFT
ON WHICH TO BUILD.
THERE WAS NO POINT
IN GOING BACK.
AND I THINK THERE
MUST ALSO HAVE BEEN
A SENSE OF RELIGIOUS HORROR.
A SENSE THAT THIS
WAS A GRAVEYARD
THEY SHOULDN'T TOUCH.
Narrator: BUT POMPEII, AT LEAST,
WAS A GRAVEYARD
FILLED WITH BODIES,
AND THEIR DISCOVERY
THOUSANDS OF YEARS
AFTER THE ERUPTION
HAS TURNED THE CITY
INTO A MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION
AND HISTORICAL SITE.
TODAY, VISITORS ARE CAPTIVATED
BY THE ANCIENT TRAGEDY,
MESMERIZED BY THE CHILLING
INTIMACY OF THE VICTIMS...
SO MUCH MORE REVEALING
THAN THE SHARDS OF POTTERY
AND ANCIENT STONE WALLS
THAT CHARACTERIZE MOST OTHER
ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES.
THESE FIGURES SEEM TO HAVE KNOWN
THEY WERE ABOUT TO DIE,
AND THEY ARE MORE
THAN JUST SKELETONS.
THE VOLCANIC ASH
TURNED THEM INTO DEATH MASKS,
FROZEN IN TIME.
IN THE 1860s,
ARCHAEOLOGIST GIUSEPPE FIORELLI
FOUND STRANGE VOIDS
IN POMPEII'S MOUNDS.
HE POURED PLASTER
INTO THE HOLES,
REVEALING THE CONTORTED HUMAN
FORMS OF THE VOLCANO'S VICTIMS.
THE CORPSES HAD ROTTED AWAY,
BUT THEIR EXACT SHAPES
AND EXPRESSIONS REMAINED.
TRAPPED IN THEIR HOMES,
MOST OF POMPEII'S DEAD
HAD BEEN SUFFOCATED
BY THE POISONOUS GAS AND ASH.
THEIR TERRIBLE DEATHS
AND AGONIZED STARES
HAVE MADE POMPEII FAMOUS.
BUT ACROSS THE BAY,
HERCULANEUM...
WITH ITS DEARTH OF BODIES...
HAS ALMOST BEEN OVERLOOKED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
HERCULANEUM WAS, OF COURSE,
NOT FORGOTTEN AT THE TIME.
EVERYONE REMEMBERED
THE LOSS OF TWO CITIES
AS A TERRIFYING EVENT.
BUT THEN IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
IT WAS CERTAINLY FORGOTTEN.
AND BY THE TIME YOU REACHED
THE 18th CENTURY,
PEOPLE WERE AWARE THAT THIS
WAS THE LEGEND OF THE PLACE,
BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE
A CLEAR IDEA OF EXACTLY
WHICH CITY WAS WHERE.
Narrator: HERCULANEUM BECAME
A MYTHICAL, LANDLOCKED PLACE.
BUT EVENTUALLY,
IT, TOO, WAS REDISCOVERED.
AND WHEN THAT HAPPENED,
IT REVEALED SOME SECRETS
EVEN MORE SURPRISING
THAN THOSE FROM POMPEII.
THE MODERN EXCAVATIONS
OF HERCULANEUM BEGAN
IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY.
SINCE THEN, THE WORK
HAS CONTINUED ON AND OFF,
AND ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE
SLOWLY MADE THEIR WAY
THROUGH THE LAYERS OF EARTH
LAID DOWN
BY THE PYROCLASTIC FLOWS.
EACH NEW DIG HAS
LED TO NEW INSIGHTS
INTO ROMAN LIFE
AT THE TIME OF THE ERUPTION.
BUT STRANGELY, THEY HAVE ALSO
REVEALED STARTLING EVIDENCE
THAT OTHER EXPLORERS
HAD GOTTEN THERE FIRST.
CARVED INTO THE ROCK
IS A STRANGE LABYRINTH
OF ANCIENT TUNNELS,
CREATED BY MYSTERIOUS
TOMB RAIDERS
WHO BURROWED INTO THE CITY
LOOKING FOR TREASURE
IN THE 18th CENTURY.
Wallace-Hadrill:
WHEN THEY EXCAVATED
IN THE 1930s,
THE WHOLE SITE
WAS COVERED WITH THIS STUFF.
THERE'S 30 METERS OF SOLID ROCK,
OR NOT SO MUCH SOLID
BUT CRUMBLY.
YOU CAN SEE THAT
IT COMES AWAY IN MY HANDS.
AND WHEN THEY FIRST EXPLORED IT
IN THE 18th CENTURY,
THEY DID IT BY CUTTING TUNNELS,
AND WHAT WE ARE SEEING HERE
IS VERY TANTALIZINGLY
THE EDGES OF TUNNELS
CUT IN THE 18th CENTURY.
AND HERE YOU CAN SEE,
THEY GOT THIS FAR
AND THEN THEY STOPPED
AND THEY'VE DRAWN A BLANK.
Narrator: BUT WHO
WERE THESE TUNNELERS
AND WHAT WERE THEY SEEKING?
THE STORY GOES
THAT AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE 18th CENTURY,
A FARMER STUMBLED ACROSS
THE RUINS OF HERCULANEUM
WHILE DIGGING A WELL.
HE NOTIFIED THE AUTHORITIES
AND BEFORE LONG,
THE RULERS OF SOUTHERN ITALY,
KNOWN AS THE BOURBONS,
DESCENDED UPON THE SITE.
THE BOURBON KING,
WHO WAS BASED IN NAPLES,
ORDERED HOARDS OF MEN
UNDERGROUND
IN SEARCH OF ARTIFACTS
FOR HIS PALACE.
BEAUTIFUL AND PRICELESS
PIECES WERE FOUND,
BUT MANY WORKERS
SUFFOCATED IN THE TUNNELS
OR WERE KILLED BY ROCK FALLS.
AND THERE WAS NO SENSE
OF PRESERVATION
OR HISTORY AT THE SITE.
THEIR QUEST WAS
ALL ABOUT FINDING THE LOOT
AND GETTING IT OUT.
Wallace-Hadrill: YOU CAN
JUST IMAGINE HOW AWFUL IT WAS
TO EXCAVATE IN THESE CONDITIONS
IN THE 18th CENTURY.
YOU CAN SEE HERE
THERE'S A LITTLE HOLE
THAT THEY HAVE CUT
TO PROP UP A LAMP.
AND THE ONLY ILLUMINATION
THEY'VE GOT
IS THESE LAMPS
IN THESE DARK TUNNELS
GOING FOR YARDS
AND YARDS AND YARDS,
HUNDREDS OF YARDS
UNDER THE SITE.
AND SO THEY GET TO THIS POINT.
THEY'VE CUT THE CEILING
QUITE NICELY,
AND SUDDENLY
IT COMES TO A STOP THERE
AND WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS POINT?
THEY GO OFF TO THE RIGHT
AND IT REACHES A BLANK THERE,
AND THEN IT ALSO
TURNS TO THE LEFT
AND IT REACHES ANOTHER BLANK.
AND NOW THEY'VE BEEN GOING
FOR MAYBE 20, 30 YARDS
WITHOUT HITTING A WALL,
AND SO THEY SAY,
"OBVIOUSLY THERE'S NOTHING HERE,
WE'VE REACHED
THE EDGE OF THE SITE."
WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE THE CITY FINISHED.
Narrator: WHAT THEY DO KNOW
IS THAT THERE IS
STILL MUCH TO BE UNCOVERED.
FOR ANDREW AND HIS TEAM,
THE TUNNELS ARE
A STARTING POINT...
OFFERING A TANTALIZING GLIMPSE
OF THE ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD
BENEATH THE SPRAWLING
MODERN TOWN.
Man: ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING
THINGS ABOUT HERCULANEUM
IS TO TRY AND GUESS
WHAT STILL LIES UNDERNEATH.
WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE
MAJOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS
THAT HAVEN'T BEEN DISCOVERED YET
THAT OUGHT TO BE THERE.
AND ARE THERE LIBRARIES?
ARE THERE OTHER BATHS
THAT WON'T HAVE BEEN
ROBBED BY THE BOURBONS,
THAT WON'T HAVE BEEN STRIPPED
OF ALL THEIR ACCOUTREMENTS?
THINGS THAT CAN TELL US A LOT
ABOUT THE DAILY PROCESSES
OF LIFE WITHIN THE CITY.
Narrator:
ONE NEWLY-DISCOVERED TUNNEL
LEADS TO WHAT ANDREW BELIEVES
WAS ONE OF THE CENTRAL
STRUCTURES IN THE TOWN.
BUT THE ROUTE ONLY GOES SO FAR.
Wallace-Hadrill: THIS IS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
BUILDINGS IN TOWN.
IT WOULD BE A DREAM
TO EXCAVATE IT.
BUT WE CAN'T BECAUSE
RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS,
RIGHT UP THERE,
ARE MODERN HOUSES,
AND IT'S EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
HERE, YOU'VE GOT
THE TOP OF A COLUMN SHAFT.
HERE'S ITS BOTTOM.
AND IT'S THE SHEER FORCE
OF THE ERUPTION
HAS BROUGHT IT DOWN LIKE THIS.
THE ROW OF COLUMNS GOES ON THERE
AND THEN IT GOES ON THAT WAY.
WHAT YOU'VE GOT IS THE SHAPE,
LIKE A CHURCH,
OR LIKE WHAT WE CALL A BASILICA,
A CHRISTIAN BASILICA,
WITH COLUMNS GOING
AROUND THE EDGES
AND THEN A BIG ROW
OF COLUMNS DOWN THE CENTER.
Narrator: THE BASILICA WAS
A MEETING PLACE AND LAW COURT,
WHERE MAGISTRATES GATHERED
TO SETTLE DISPUTES.
FROM MAPS DRAWN BY THE BOURBONS,
IT'S POSSIBLE TO RECONSTRUCT
THE IMPOSING BUILDING...
AND SEE WHAT
THE BOURBONS DESTROYED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
IF WE CAN SORT OF FOLLOW ALONG
LIKE THE BOURBONS,
INTO THE WARREN,
HERE IS A WONDERFUL
FRAGMENT OF A FRESCO.
LOOK UP HERE.
WHAT THEY DID WAS TO HACK OUT
ANYTHING THAT THEY SAW
THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL,
BECAUSE THEY WERE INTERESTED
IN TREASURES FOR THE PALACE.
AND SO THEY FIND
A BEAUTIFUL FRESCO THERE,
AND THEY HACK IT OUT
AND THEY SEND IT UP TOP,
AND THEN THEY JUST
BACKFILL IT AND ABANDON IT.
SEE THOSE LITTLE
BITS OF WOOD THERE?
THAT'S A TRELLIS THAT
WAS IN FRONT OF A WINDOW
AND IT'S SLIPPED DOWN
FROM ABOVE.
AND THEN IF YOU LOOK
ALONG THERE,
YOU ARE SEEING
WHERE THE TUNNEL GOES.
RIGHT ROUND THE BACK.
Narrator: THE BOURBONS'
RUTHLESS PURSUIT OF ROMAN ART
LED TO SPECTACULAR FINDS.
BUT THEY LARGELY DISREGARDED
THE CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
FROM WHICH
THE STUNNING OBJECTS CAME.
Roberts: THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST
EXPLORED POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM
DIDN'T OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE VALUES
THAT WE WOULD HAVE TODAY
IF WE WERE EXPLORING THE CITIES,
BUT FOR THEIR TIME,
THEY WERE INTERESTED IN THE ART.
THEY WEREN'T REALLY INTERESTED
IN THE CONTEXT,
SO BY TODAY'S STANDARDS,
THEY WERE NOT ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
Narrator: FORTUNATELY,
THE BOURBONS DIDN'T
TAKE EVERYTHING.
TODAY'S ARCHAEOLOGISTS
OFTEN COME UP
WITH THEIR OWN
EXTRAORDINARY FINDS.
THIS RARE, FRAGILE PAINTED HEAD
WAS RECENTLY DISCOVERED
NEAR THE BASILICA.
ITS CONSERVATION
IS BEING OVERSEEN
BY DR. MONICA CASTALDI,
WHO IS MAKING SURE
ITS FINDERS PROTECT IT
AS WELL AS THE EARTH HAS.
Woman: I RECEIVED
A TELEPHONE CALL
SAYING A PAINTED HEAD WAS FOUND.
AND I JUST SAID, "PLEASE
KEEP IT WET AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
PUT IT INTO A PLASTIC BAG.
DON'T LET IT DRY."
OBJECTS ARE USED
TO BEING IN WET CLIMATE,
AND THEY DRY TOO QUICKLY,
AND THEY CAN DISINTEGRATE.
THE PAINT LAYER
COULD HAVE BEEN DAMAGED.
Wallace-Hadrill:
WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT IT
IS THAT MONICA WAS THERE FOR IT,
TO HAVE A CONSERVATOR ACTUALLY
INVOLVED IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY.
SO MANY HEADS MUST HAVE BEEN
FOUND IN THE PAST WITH PAINT,
BUT WAS SIMPLY WASHED AWAY.
AND THAT MEANS THAT
WE HAVE A FANTASTIC INSIGHT
INTO THE BIG MYSTERY OF WHAT
A COLORED STATUE HEAD WAS LIKE.
YOU CAN SEE HOW WONDERFULLY
DELICATE THE PAINTWORK IS,
AND YOU SEE HOW IT CONCENTRATES
AROUND THE AREA OF THE EYE.
IT BRINGS IT TO LIFE,
BECAUSE FOR THE ANCIENTS,
THE LIFE RESIDES IN THE EYE.
YOU CAN SEE INTO THE SOUL
THROUGH THE EYE.
Narrator:
THE HEAD IS BELIEVED TO BE
THAT OF AN AMAZON WARRIOR WOMAN,
A POPULAR MYTHICAL FIGURE
OF THE TIME.
IT PROBABLY CAME
FROM THE BASILICA,
WHERE MANY SUCH STATUES
WOULD HAVE STOOD.
UNLIKE THE BOURBONS,
ANDREW AND HIS TEAM ARE
MAKING SPECIAL EFFORTS
TO STUDY HERCULANEUM'S
SPECTACULAR ART
IN ITS ORIGINAL ENVIRONMENT.
THIS ALLOWS THEM
TO TRULY APPRECIATE
THE COLORFUL ROMAN WORLD
THEY ARE EXPLORING.
IT GIVES THEM THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BUILD A COMPLETE PICTURE
OF A LIVING, BREATHING
ANCIENT TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill: WHAT MAKES
HERCULANEUM VERY SPECIAL,
AND UNLIKE POMPEII,
IS THAT ORGANIC MATERIAL
IS PRESERVED,
AND THAT EVERYTHING IS PRESERVED
TO A GREATER HEIGHT.
AND THAT MEANS YOU GET
WOODEN STRUCTURES.
YOU GET FOOD, YOU GET CLOTH,
YOU GET CUPBOARDS.
AND YOU ALSO GET UPPER FLOORS.
Narrator: WHILE THE REST
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
WAS BEING SACKED BY INVADERS
OR RAVAGED
BY THE PASSAGE OF TIME,
HERCULANEUM'S PRISTINE
STREETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
WERE KEPT SAFE UNDER 80 FEET
OF VOLCANIC DEBRIS.
IT IS A RARE GLIMPSE OF
THE SCALE OF ROMAN CONSTRUCTION.
BUILDINGS, AVENUES,
WOODEN DOORS AND OTHER
DELICATE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
MAKE THE EXCAVATED TOWN
FEEL LIKE IT COULD
STILL BE LIVED IN TODAY.
ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL THINGS
ABOUT HERCULANEUM IN PARTICULAR
IS THE PRESERVATION
OF SO MUCH WOOD.
AND WOOD SURVIVES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
ONLY FOR 3 MAIN REASONS.
IT'S BEEN BURNT, CARBONIZED.
IT'S BEEN WATERLOGGED.
FOR EXAMPLE,
UP ON HADRIAN'S WALL
YOU FIND WATERLOGGED DEPOSITS.
OR IT'S BEEN DRIED OUT,
AS YOU MIGHT FIND, SAY,
IN THE DESERT IN EGYPT.
BUT AT HERCULANEUM,
BECAUSE THE PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
SCORCHED EVERYTHING,
YOU HAVE STAIRCASES, CEILINGS,
SHELVES, FURNITURE.
Narrator:
MANY OF THE MOST FRAGILE
AND REVEALING DISCOVERIES
LIE HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW.
Wallace-Hadrill: IN HERE WE HAVE
ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
FEATURES OF THE SITE.
WE HAVE THE CARBONIZED
WOODEN FURNITURE.
AND YOU SEE ROWS AND ROWS
OF THIS FURNITURE.
HERE, FOR INSTANCE,
YOU'VE GOT A BED,
AND YOU CAN SEE
THE WOODEN FRAME OF THE BED.
BUT ALSO ALL AROUND IT
THIS BEAUTIFUL EDGING
WORK IN MARQUETRY.
IT'S PRESERVED LIKE THIS
BECAUSE OF THE UNIQUE WAY
THAT THE SITE IS DESTROYED.
AN AVALANCHE OF HYPER-HEATED
PYROCLASTIC FLOW COMING DOWN
TURNS THE WOOD INSTANTLY,
COOKS IT AT THIS
VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE,
AND YOU CAN SEE OVER HERE
HOW BLACK THIS CHEST IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE CRACKS
RUNNING ON IT.
ALL THE VAPOR
HAS BEEN DRIVEN OFF
AND THE WOOD
HAS TURNED TO CARBON.
AND LIKE THAT, IT CAN SURVIVE.
MOST OF THE FURNITURE
IS CARBONIZED LIKE THAT.
EVERY NOW AND AGAIN,
VERY, VERY RARELY,
YOU GET REAL WOOD,
NON-CARBONIZED WOOD.
THIS IS A LITTLE DOOR
FROM A CUPBOARD OR SOMETHING,
AND YOU CAN SEE THESE BEAUTIFUL
DETAILS OF WOODWORK AROUND IT.
AND THIS MUST HAVE BEEN HIT
BY A PYROCLASTIC FLOW
AT A MUCH LOWER TEMPERATURE.
AND IT'S NOT JUST WOOD.
ALL SORTS OF ORGANIC
MATERIAL SURVIVE.
HERE, FOR INSTANCE,
YOU HAVE A WICKER BASKET,
PERHAPS FOR FISHING;
WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHAT.
AND HERE, ONE OF THE REALLY
ASTONISHING FINDS FROM THE SITE:
A ROMAN LOAF.
A ROMAN LOAF, DIVIDED INTO
ITS LITTLE SLICES OF BREAD
WHICH ACTUALLY HAS
THE NAME OF THE GUY
WHO WAS GOING TO CONSUME IT,
STAMPED ON IT.
YOU CAN SEE AN "A" OR A "V"
AND AN "M" THERE.
AND WHAT YOU DID WAS
YOU PUT YOUR NAME ON
SO YOU'D GET THE RIGHT LOAF
BACK OUT OF THE OVEN.
Narrator: THAT A LOAF OF BREAD
CAN SURVIVE 2,000 YEARS
IS EXTRAORDINARY ENOUGH,
BUT IN SUBTERRANEAN HERCULANEUM,
EVEN MORE BASIC DETAILS OF
DAILY LIFE HAVE BEEN PRESERVED.
THIS IS THE ANCIENT SEWER,
WHICH RAN BENEATH
MOST OF THE HOUSES.
IN IT, PROFESSOR MARK ROBINSON
HAS FOUND BROKEN SHARDS OF POTS
AND KITCHEN REFUSE,
INDICATING THAT IT WAS USED
FOR GENERAL GARBAGE DISPOSAL,
AS WELL AS FOR HUMAN WASTE.
Man: IT'S QUITE A USUAL PRACTICE
FOR THE ROMAN LATRINES
TO BE IN THE KITCHEN.
YOU COULD DO YOUR WASHING UP,
YOU COULD THROW YOUR KITCHEN
WASTE DOWN THE TOILET SHAFT,
WHICH IS MUCH MORE
OF A WASTE DISPOSAL SHAFT
RATHER THAN
JUST A LATRINE SHAFT.
Narrator: HIDDEN IN THE DIRT
IS A RARE GLIMPSE
OF THE ROMAN DIET.
THE FINDS MAY EVEN SHOW WHAT
SOME CITIZENS HAD BEEN EATING
IN HERCULANEUM'S FINAL HOURS.
Robinson: THE FIRST ITEM HERE
IS A PARTLY-MINERALIZED
CHERRY STONE,
THEN ON TO AN APPLE PIP.
THESE THINGS ARE A GROUP
OF MINERALIZED GRAPE PIPS.
AND FINALLY,
LARGE NUMBERS OF FIG SEEDS
WERE PRESENT IN THE SAMPLES.
SOME OF THIS MATERIAL
COULD WELL BE
FROM SOME OF THE LAST MEALS
EATEN AT HERCULANEUM,
BECAUSE THE DEPOSITS
THAT HAVE BEEN SAMPLED
ARE THE UPPERMOST LAYERS
OF THE EXCREMENT MATERIAL
IN THE SEWER.
Narrator: THE WATER
THAT DRAINED INTO THE SEWER
ARRIVED VIA
A CAREFULLY-DESIGNED AQUEDUCT...
A STUNNING EXAMPLE
OF ADVANCED ROMAN ENGINEERING.
A FEW MILES
NORTHWEST OF HERCULANEUM,
IN THE MODERN CITY OF NAPLES,
A SIMILAR AQUEDUCT
STILL SPANS A BUSY STREET.
THE AQUA AUGUSTA PROVIDED
WATER FOR ALL THE TOWNS
AROUND VESUVIUS.
Man: THE ROMANS DEVELOPED
A WHOLE SCIENCE, IF YOU LIKE,
OF AQUEDUCT TECHNOLOGY.
THAT'S CONTROLLING THE GRADIENT,
CONTROLLING WATER PRESSURE,
PROVIDING RELIABLE
MASONRY STRUCTURES
THAT WOULD CARRY THE WATER
FROM THE SOURCE,
AND TRACK IT ALL THE WAY
DOWN TO WHERE IT WAS NEEDED.
THE MOST FAMILIAR IMPRESSION
OF THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT TODAY
IS A WHOLE SERIES OF ARCHES
AND AN ARCADE CARRYING
THE WATER ALONG THE TOP.
ACTUALLY, THAT'S SOMETHING
THAT THE ROMANS
ONLY USUALLY EMPLOYED
TO CARRY WATER ACROSS
LOWER AREAS LIKE VALLEYS.
MOST AQUEDUCTS WERE
ACTUALLY CHANNELS,
BURIED INTO THE GROUND,
UNDERGROUND CHANNELS.
Narrator:
FROM THESE FEEDER CHANNELS,
THE WATER WAS
FILTERED AND DIVIDED
AT WATER PLANTS
ON THE EDGE OF EACH TOWN.
AT THIS PLANT, WATER WAS SPLIT
INTO 3 DIFFERENT PATHS.
ONE SUPPLIED THE PUBLIC BATHS,
ANOTHER FED THE PRIVATE HOUSES
OF THE WEALTHY,
AND A THIRD SUPPLIED
THE PUBLIC FOUNTAINS.
THE DIVIDING TOWER WAS BUILT
AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE TOWN
SO THAT THE WATER PRESSURE
COULD BE CONTROLLED.
IF THE PRESSURE FLOWING
INTO TOWN GOT TOO GREAT,
THE WATER WAS
FORCED UP INTO TANKS
AT THE TOP OF SMALLER TOWERS
SITUATED AROUND THE TOWN.
THIS REDUCED THE PRESSURE,
AND SENT
A STEADY SUPPLY OF WATER
COURSING INTO
THE FOUNTAINS AND BATHS.
De La Bedoyere:
THE SYSTEM WAS CALLED
"CONSTANT OFFTAKE"...
IT FLOWED THE WHOLE TIME.
SO YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE A TOWN
WHERE THE PUBLIC TAPS
ARE REALLY NEVER TURNED OFF.
THERE WAS WATER FLOWING
THROUGH IT THE WHOLE TIME.
PROVIDING WATER
FOR THEIR POPULATIONS
WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST BENEFITS
OF BEING PART
OF THE ROMAN WORLD,
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.
AND IT'S A KIND OF A TRAGEDY
THAT SO MUCH OF THAT FELL APART
AFTER THE END
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
IT TOOK UNTIL
THE 19th CENTURY, REALLY,
BEFORE PEOPLE
LEARNED AGAIN THE VALUE
OF PROVIDING A RELIABLE
PUBLIC FRESH WATER SUPPLY.
Narrator: BUT FOR THE CITIZENS
OF HERCULANEUM
AND THE OTHER TOWNS AT THE FOOT
OF VESUVIUS,
MADE FOR EASY LIVING.
Wallace-Hadrill:
BY ITS FINAL PERIOD,
HERCULANEUM WAS
A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE.
THERE WAS PEACE AND PROSPERITY
ON THE BAY OF NAPLES,
AND THERE WERE GLORIOUS HOUSES
LOOKING OUT OVER THE BAY,
AND LIFE MUST'VE BEEN VERY GOOD.
Narrator:
THIS WAS THE WAY OF LIFE
DESTROYED OVER A FEW
DEADLY HOURS IN 79 A.D..
BUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
REMAINED A MYSTERY
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
NOT UNTIL 20 YEARS AGO
DID THE HORRIFYING TRUTH
FINALLY BEGIN TO EMERGE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAD TO DIG DEEP
TO LEARN HOW HERCULANEUM'S DEAD
DIFFERED FROM THE BODIES
IN POMPEII.
FOR A LONG TIME IT WAS THOUGHT
THAT EVERYBODY MUST HAVE
ESCAPED FROM HERCULANEUM.
ONLY A FEW DOZEN SKELETONS
WERE FOUND.
AND IT WASN'T UNTIL
THEY STARTED GOING RIGHT DOWN
TO THE LEVEL OF THE ANCIENT SEA
THAT A SERIES OF ARCHES PRODUCED
THE MOST DRAMATIC EVIDENCE
OF WHAT HAPPENED TO
THE INHABITANTS OF HERCULANEUM.
DOZENS OF BODIES LYING HUDDLED
FOR PROTECTION IN THESE ARCADES.
Narrator: THE FRAGILE BONES
WERE ONE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
FINDS OF THE CENTURY.
STUDYING THE SKELETONS,
BIO-ANTHROPOLOGIST
PIERPAOLO PETRONE
SEARCHED FOR DETAILS
ABOUT THESE VICTIMS'
TERRIFYING FINAL MOMENTS.
DR. PETRONE BELIEVES
THAT THE SKELETONS SHOW SIGNS
OF A VIOLENT REFLEX REACTION
TO INTENSE HEAT,
A REACTION THAT
CONTORTED THEIR LIMBS
IN A POWERFUL,
THERMAL-INDUCED CONTRACTION.
HERE WE HAVE A GOOD EXAMPLE
OF A CONTRACTED HAND.
IN FACT, ALL THE HANDS
AND FEET OF THESE PEOPLE
UNDERWENT
THERMAL-INDUCED CONTRACTION,
INDUCED BY THE DIRECT EFFECT OF
THE HEAT ON THE SKIN RECEPTORS.
SO JUST IN ONE SECOND,
THEY GOT THIS KIND
OF CONTRACTION
OF UPPER AND LOWER LIMBS...
IN THIS CASE, A HAND.
AND HERE WE HAVE A CAST
OF THE FOOT, CONTRACTED,
IT'S A VERY EVIDENT HERE
OF THE CONTRACTION OF TOES.
UNNATURAL IN THE NORMAL POSITION
OF A LIVING PERSON.
Narrator:
THE PEOPLE IN THE BOAT SHEDS
WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
BEFORE THEY KNEW WHAT HIT THEM.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THE LATEST SCIENTIFIC WORK
HAS SHOWN EXACTLY
HOW PEOPLE DIED.
THE SKELETONS SHOW SIGNS
OF THERMAL SHOCK.
A WAVE OF VERY HOT GAS,
400, 500 DEGREES CENTIGRADE,
HIT THEM AND MAKES
THEIR FLESH EVAPORATE,
AND THEY DIE INSTANTLY.
Narrator: ANYONE WHO HADN'T
ESCAPED HERCULANEUM BY MIDNIGHT
WOULD HAVE BEEN VAPORIZED
BY THE FIRST SUPERHEATED
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
THAT SURGED DOWN FROM VESUVIUS.
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
VARY IN TEMPERATURE;
YOU CAN HAVE COLD FLOWS,
AND YOU CAN HAVE SUPERCHARGED,
EXCEPTIONALLY HOT FLOWS.
NOW YOU IMAGINE IT,
YOU'RE NOT ENTIRELY SURE
HOW YOU WOULD DIE
IN ONE OF THESE THINGS.
IF IT'S COLD, YOU'D SUFFOCATE,
BECAUSE IT'S VERY FLUID.
THE ASH GETS INTO YOUR THROAT
AND, EFFECTIVELY, YOU DROWNED.
OR IF THEY'RE VERY, VERY HOT,
YOU BECOME INCINERATED
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.
Narrator: FROM THE SKELETONS,
DR. PETRONE BELIEVES
HE CAN EVEN TELL
HOW HOT THE KILLER FLOWS WERE.
Petrone: IN THIS CASE,
WE HAVE BLACKENING
OF THE INNER PART
AND SOME VERY CLEAR FRACTURES
WHICH SHOW THAT
THE TEMPERATURES OF EXPOSURE
WERE ABOUT 400 OR 500 DEGREES
IN THIS CASE.
Narrator: THE INTENSE HEAT
CAUSED BRAINS TO BOIL
AND SKULLS TO EXPLODE.
Petrone: SO THE FIRST
EFFECT OF THE HEAT
WAS THE CONTRACTION
OF HAND AND FEET,
BECAUSE IT TOOK JUST ONE SECOND.
AND THEN LATER,
WE HAVE THE EFFECTS
ON THE BONES,
ON TEETH, ON SKULLS,
EXPLOSION OF SKULLS.
FRACTURES OF THE LONG BONES,
OF TEETH,
AND THEN RAPID VAPORIZATION.
SO ALL THE EFFECTS
ARE VERY SUDDEN,
BUT AFTER THE DEATH
OF THE PEOPLE,
SO THE PEOPLE
DIDN'T FEEL ANYTHING.
Narrator: AS THEY DIED,
HOT ASH
IMMEDIATELY ENTOMBED THEM,
KEEPING THEIR SKELETONS INTACT.
HERE, A CHILD LOOKS AS IF IT'S
BEING COMFORTED BY ITS MOTHER.
THE TINY BONES OF A FETUS
FOUND BENEATH THE WOMAN
INDICATE SHE WAS 7 MONTHS
PREGNANT WHEN SHE DIED.
IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT
THE PEOPLE OF HERCULANEUM
HID IN THE BOAT SHEDS,
HOPING FOR RESCUE FROM THE SEA.
BUT IF THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO EVACUATE THE TOWN,
NOT EVERYONE GOT OUT IN TIME.
Wallace-Hadrill: IT'S CLEAR
THAT THEY HAD TAKEN REFUGE
AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT,
AND THEY'VE PROBABLY
GOT ABOUT 10 MINUTES
WHEN THE FLOW STARTS
COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE.
AND THE BEST PLACE
TO TAKE REFUGE
WAS RIGHT DOWN BY THE SHORE,
UNDERNEATH THESE GREAT
MASSIVE CONCRETE VAULTS.
THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN
VERY GOOD PROTECTION,
OR PROTECTION AGAINST ANYTHING
EXCEPT A PYROCLASTIC FLOW.
THOUGH WE'VE ALREADY DISCOVERED
ABOUT 300 SKELETONS,
THERE MUST BE MORE.
Narrator: IT'S UNLIKELY
WE WILL EVER KNOW
EXACTLY HOW MANY PEOPLE
WERE SWALLOWED UP
BY VESUVIUS' PYROCLASTIC FLOWS.
BUT THE DISCOVERY
OF SO MANY BODIES
HAS STARTED TO CHANGE OUR VIEW
OF THIS ONCE-FORGOTTEN TOWN.
Wallace-Hadrill:
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOK AT
THE TRAGEDY OF HERCULANEUM
WITHOUT BEING MOVED...
TO LOOK AT THEIR AWFUL SKELETONS
AND TO THINK
OF THEIR AWFUL DEATH.
THE IRONY
OF WORKING IN HERCULANEUM
IS THAT OTHER PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY
IS OUR GOOD LUCK.
THEIR DESTRUCTION IS
ALSO THEIR SURVIVAL.
SO YOU CAN'T JUST BE UPSET
BY THEIR HORRIBLE END,
BECAUSE IT GIVES US
A FABULOUS CHANCE TO STUDY THEM.
Narrator: SO MUCH CAN BE LEARNED
ABOUT THE LIVES
OF THE ANCIENT ROMANS,
BUT THE REMAINS ALSO PROVIDE
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
TO WARN CURRENT RESIDENTS
ABOUT THE PERILS OF LIVING
IN THE SHADOW OF A VOLCANO.
TODAY ON THE BAY OF NAPLES,
THE THREAT FROM VESUVIUS IS JUST
AS ACUTE AS IT WAS IN 79 A.D.
VULCANOLOGIST
DR. GIUSEPPE MASTROLORENZO
SPENDS HIS TIME ANALYZING
JUST HOW HIGH THE RISK IS
AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
HE LOOKS FOR EARLY SIGNS
OF A PENDING ERUPTION.
Man: PRECURSORS NORMALLY LAST
FOR WEEKS TO MONTHS.
AND PRECURSORS
INCLUDE EARTHQUAKES,
WHICH ARE INDICATORS
OF SOMETHING HAPPENING
BENEATH THE VOLCANO.
Narrator: VESUVIUS
AND THE SURROUNDING REGION
ARE MONITORED 24 HOURS A DAY,
7 DAYS A WEEK.
EVEN THE ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO
KEEP THE OBSERVERS
ON THEIR TOES.
THE MOUNTAIN'S SLEEP
IS A RESTLESS ONE.
Man: THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE
ABOUT AT 2:00 THIS MORNING.
THIS IS VERY SMALL EARTHQUAKE.
AND HERE WE RECORD ABOUT,
LET'S SAY, 100 OR 200
EARTHQUAKES OF THIS KIND
DURING ONE... PER YEAR.
SO THIS IS THE NORMAL
ACTIVITY OF THE VOLCANO.
AND UNTIL THIS IS THE ACTIVITY,
WE ARE SURE THAT THERE
IS NOTHING THAT SHOWS US
THAT VESUVIUS IS GOING TO ERUPT.
OF COURSE, IF WE SEE
AN INCREASE IN SEISMICITY,
IF THERE ARE MANY EARTHQUAKES
IN ONE DAY,
OF COURSE, THIS MEANS
THAT THE VOLCANO IS
CHANGING ITS ACTIVITY
AND IS GOING TOWARDS A CRISIS.
Narrator: THE OFFICIAL LINE
IS THAT A MAJOR ERUPTION
IS UNLIKELY TO OCCUR
ANY TIME SOON,
AND AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THAT
THEIR SENSORS WILL GIVE THEM
AT LEAST TWO WEEKS' NOTICE
WHEN ONE DOES COME.
DR. MASTROLORENZO
IS NOT SO SURE.
Voice-over: I DON'T KNOW
WHEN VESUVIUS WILL ERUPT AGAIN.
I JUST KNOW
THAT A VOLCANO LIKE THIS
MAY CHANGE FROM THIS STATE
TO THE CRITICAL CONDITIONS
IN A FEW DAYS.
Narrator:
AND WHEN THAT CHANGE HAPPENS,
DR. MASTROLORENZO
HAS SOME SERIOUS CONCERNS
ABOUT THE AREA'S ABILITY
TO HANDLE IT.
Mastrolorenzo:
PRESENT EVACUATION PLAN
HAS BEEN BASED
ON A MINOR ERUPTION
LIKE THE ONE THAT
OCCURRED IN 1631,
WHICH IS NOT SO BIG
LIKE THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION.
I DON'T KNOW
IF THE PEOPLE REALLY THINK
THAT AN ERUPTION
LIKE THAT MAY OCCUR
IN THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFE.
BUT IT COULD.
Narrator: AN ERUPTION
LIKE THE ONE IN 79 A.D...
OR EVEN BIGGER.
Davis: IN TERMS
OF A.D. 79 ERUPTION,
IS THAT THE WORST YOU COULD GET
FORM VESUVIUS?
PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY NOT.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RECORD,
THE ROCK RECORD,
AND YOU GO BACK THROUGH TIME,
GEOLOGICAL TIME,
YOU SEE MANY DIFFERENT
LARGE-SCALE ERUPTIONS,
SOME OF THEM BIGGER
THAN THE A.D. 79 ERUPTION.
Narrator: BUT IT SEEMS
THE WARNING IS GOING UNHEARD.
THE 79 A.D. ERUPTION WIPED OUT
POMPEII, HERCULANEUM,
AND MOST OF THE BAY OF NAPLES.
TODAY, THAT SAME AREA
IS HOME TO 6 MILLION PEOPLE.
THE EVACUATION PLAN
ONLY ACCOUNTS FOR 600,000.
THESE MODERN ITALIANS,
LIKE THEIR UNFORTUNATE
ROMAN ANCESTORS,
ARE SITTING ON A TIME BOMB.
Davies: WHAT MAKES A VOLCANO
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
IS NOT ITS STYLE OF ACTIVITY;
IT'S THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE
THAT LIVE AT THE FOOTHILLS.
AND, OF COURSE, WITH VESUVIUS,
YOU'VE GOT
SEVERAL MILLION PEOPLE
RIGHT THERE IN NAPLES ITSELF.
AND THE QUESTION BECOMES,
HOW FAST CAN YOU EVACUATE
THOSE PEOPLE
WHEN THE VOLCANO
STARTS TO ESCALATE?
Narrator:
DESPITE ALL THE MONITORING,
TODAY'S RESIDENTS MAY BE
NO MORE PREPARED TO DEAL
WITH AN ERUPTION
THAN THE CITIZENS
OF ANCIENT HERCULANEUM.
Wallace-Hadrill:
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BUILDING
RIGHT UNDER VESUVIUS,
RIGHT THROUGH HISTORY.
NOT JUST THE ROMANS,
BUT MILLENNIA BEFORE
WE KNOW THAT HUMANS
HAVE LIVED HERE.
VESUVIUS ONLY ERUPTS
VERY RARELY,
AND PEOPLE JUST CAN'T REMEMBER
THE LAST TIME IT ERUPTED.
Narrator: INSTEAD OF LEARNING
FROM HISTORY...
AND FROM THE TRAGIC REMAINS
OF VESUVIUS' DEAD...
THESE MODERN CITIES MAY BE
COURTING THE NEXT BIG DISASTER.
BUILT ON FOUNDATIONS
OF VOLCANIC ROCK AND ASH,
THEY ARE POISED
TO SHARE THE SAME FATE
AS THE TOWNS THEY REPLACED.
WITH ROADS JAMMED
AND ESCAPE ROUTES IMPASSIBLE,
IT IS UNLIKELY MANY WILL ESCAPE
WHEN THE VOLCANO AWAKENS.
LIKE THEIR ANCESTORS,
THESE RESIDENTS MAY END UP
WAITING BY THE WATER
FOR A RESCUE THAT NEVER COMES.
THOUGH IT SEEMS
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE,
THERE MAY COME A TIME
WHEN THESE THRIVING COMMUNITIES
BECOME JUST ONE MORE LAYER,
ENTOMBED BY THE VOLCANO
ABOVE THE VERY BODIES
WHOSE WARNING
THEY FAILED TO HEED.
REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING
ITS FORGOTTEN SECRETS
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
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