Unearthed (2016–…): Season 6, Episode 2 - Vesuvius's Secret Victim - full transcript
When Pompeii was destroyed by an apocalyptic volcano in 79 AD, another Roman town was also destroyed and experts now use cutting-edge tech to investigate the secrets of Vesuvius' second victim.
Narrator: The lost roman town
of herculaneum,
Buried in the devastating
eruption of mount vesuvius.
This is the best-preserved town
in the whole roman world.
Narrator: The destruction of its
neighbor, pompeii, is legendary.
But herculaneum's story
is a mystery.
What really happened during
its terrifying final hours?
Today, scientists
use forensic technology
And multispectral imaging
To reveal the shocking truth
behind herculaneum's fate.
Blank: Reading the papyrus
has been the biggest challenge
That I've had
in my professional life.
Narrator: Why does fiery vesuvius
preserve this town in astonishing detail?
Giordano: Herculaneum
is completely changing
Our understanding of what
happened on that terrible day.
Narrator: Can new discoveries
here change the way
We see the most famous
volcanic eruption of all time?
To solve these mysteries,
We'll dig inside this
extraordinary volcanic tomb.
We'll tunnel
into ancient buildings
And come face-to-face
with their doomed residents
And reveal the dark secrets
of pompeii's forgotten twin.
UNEARTHED - SEASON 6
EP - 2 - Vesuvius's Secret Victim
♪
In the bay of naples in Italy
Lies a buried ancient wonder...
Herculaneum,
A roman town that sits
in the shadow of mount vesuvius.
In 79 a.D.,
this fiery giant erupts,
Destroying this town
and its neighbor pompeii.
Today, pompeii is world-famous,
But herculaneum,
in comparison, is unknown.
Beneath these modern streets
lies a lost world.
Buried under 75 feet
of volcanic material,
A town frozen in time
for nearly 2000 years.
Roads criss-crossed
the ghost town,
Flanked on each side
By the scorched remains of
shops, bars, and homes.
But in its prime, its streets
are colorful and vibrant.
This is a town
home to over 4,000 people.
But just four miles to the east,
the sleeping volcano vesuvius.
Can new discoveries here
give us fresh insight
Into the terrifying eruption?
The town covers an area
the size of 30 football fields.
But three-quarters of it
remains buried.
Andrew wallace hadrill
is director
Of the herculaneum
conservation project.
He investigates the final hours
of this extraordinary town.
Herculaneum was destroyed
in the same eruption as pompeii.
But unlike pompeii,
the quality of preservation here
Is quite exceptional.
Narrator: Herculaneum is
a volcanic time capsule.
It is preserved in a flash,
Burying clues that can now
reveal exactly what happens
When vesuvius erupts.
Narrator: Look at the height to
which this house is preserved.
There are upper floors there.
In pompeii, upper floors
are mostly completely destroyed.
And then there's woodwork.
Look at this wooden screen
going across.
The preservation of this
wooden screen is extraordinary.
Narrator: It's not just
buildings that are
Frozen in time here.
Inside the buildings,
Archaeologists discover
thousands of objects.
One of the rarest things
about herculaneum
Is the survival
of wooden furniture.
Here we've got a bed,
Wonderful sort of
chest of drawers,
And here's a very moving
thing... a cradle.
The baby was lying in the cradle
when they found it.
Narrator: Excavators also find
remains of food.
Hadrill: Here are some figs.
Herculaneum was famous
for its figs.
You can almost nibble at them.
And here...
This is my favorite...
A loaf of bread.
And it comes from the baker
ready scored for breaking off.
Narrator: Herculaneum is
uncovered accidentally
In the 18th century
When a farmer is digging
for a well and finds a wall.
Today, archaeologists are
still excavating the town
From under millions
of tons of volcanic rock.
In one corner,
an enormous villa emerges.
What we see here is the cliff
face of an enormous excavation,
And right down at the bottom
of it is the villa.
We've only excavated
a small corner of it,
About a tenth
of the whole villa.
The rest continues way off
in that direction.
Narrator: When the original
excavation starts
At the huge villa,
Workmen carve narrow tunnels
Into the thick volcanic rock
by hand.
After more than
two years of digging,
They break through into a room
With strange black cylinders
scattered on the floor
And on shelves.
Over 1,700 papyrus scrolls
Baked black
by the heat of the eruption.
This is the only intact library
from the ancient world.
A monumental find.
What can these scrolls
reveal about life here
In the shadow of vesuvius?
The tunnels excavated
through the villa
Are off-limits to most visitors.
Andrew has unique access
to explore
This claustrophobic labyrinth.
So here we are deep under
tons of volcanic material
Chucked out by vesuvius
that solidifies to hard rock.
Narrator: These tunnels
are still untouched
Since the 1700s.
Deep down here,
Right at the end of this tunnel,
Is where the excavators found
the library of papyri.
Narrator: Most of the library
remains under volcanic rock.
Only a small section
has been explored.
Hadrill: This is the tiny room
in which the explorers
Of the villa found hundreds
of rolls of papyrus.
They looked like
burnt lumps of coal.
Initially, they started chucking
them away until they realized
"no, this is something
much more precious.
There's writing on them."
Narrator:
But what do the scrolls say?
Hadrill: These papyrus scrolls
are so blackened
That it's virtually impossible
To read the black ink
against the black paper.
Narrator: Today, the fragile
scrolls are stored here
At the national library
in naples.
Papyrologist david blank
works to decode
These mysterious ancient texts.
Blank: Reading the papyrus
and reconstructing its text
And then making sense of it
has been the biggest challenge
That I've had
in my professional life.
Narrator: When the scrolls
are found back in the 1700s,
They cause a sensation.
People come from across
the globe to see them.
They soon become
political currency.
The king of naples
gives six scrolls to napoleon
As a peace offering.
He also gifts 18 scrolls
to the british
In exchange for
18 live kangaroos.
But whenever someone tries
to open them,
They crumble to dust.
Many scrolls are destroyed
in an attempt to read them.
What secrets
do the scrolls hide?
Blank: The papyri are
extremely fragile.
If you touch them,
they fall apart.
Sometimes they fall apart
even if you don't touch them.
Sometimes there are also
holes in them
Because parts have
stuck together.
Narrator: Reading the damaged
fragments is almost impossible
With the naked eye.
We have basically
a black background
In the better preserved papyri,
And then you have the ink which
is slightly shiny on top of it.
You can barely see it.
Narrator: To decipher them,
David uses a groundbreaking
technology created by nasa
Called multispectral imaging.
It uses different wavelengths
of infrared light
To separate the ink
from the background.
Suddenly you could see
whole lines of letters and text
That you could actually
then reconstruct
Into an intelligible
piece of writing.
So in essence, we're using
digital-age technology
To read something that was
written 2,000 years ago.
And that's really pretty great.
Narrator: David believes the
scrolls may hide clues
About the villa.
Blank:
To know how to read in rome
Was already something of
a rare-ish achievement.
And to own a lot of books,
to own a library
And a place in which
you could store them,
In which you could read them,
and so on,
Was something that really only
wealthy people could do.
Narrator: When david deciphers
the fragments,
He discovers that most
of the scrolls are written
By a greek philosopher.
It's a vital clue to the
identity of the villa's owner.
Blank: This philosopher had
a very important roman patron
Who was piso.
And piso was also the
father-in-law of julius caesar,
And so a person
who can obviously afford
This extremely
luxurious establishment.
Narrator:
Julius caesar is one of the
most famous romans in history.
Rome's all powerful dictator.
His father-in-law's villa
Is one of
the most magnificent ever found.
It's almost 800 feet long.
Inside are the ruins of what
once were beautiful terraces,
A swimming pool,
and a private vineyard.
Andrew believes
the villa de papyri
Reveals what sort of place
herculaneum is.
Hadrill: In its present state,
you can only begin to imagine
The extraordinary size
and beauty of this villa.
This is rich at a global level.
This is a guy who was
father-in-law of julius caesar.
You don't get more important
than that in roman society.
Narrator: The discovery of
the villa and its incredible papyri
Reveal that herculaneum
is far wealthier
And important
than its neighbor pompeii.
You can think of pompeii
as a working city.
Herculaneum, by comparison,
is more of a vacation city.
This area was the playground
of the roman rich.
The people who made money out of
an empire came on holiday here
And spread out in full luxury.
Narrator: Herculaneum's
remarkable treasures
Reveal a wealthy town
cut off in its prime.
Its citizens abandoned
their elegant homes
In a desperate attempt
to escape.
Why is herculaneum
so well-preserved?
How does so much of this town
Survive a catastrophic
volcanic eruption?
♪
♪
Narrator:
The roman town of herculaneum...
An astonishing time capsule.
The same volcanic eruption
that destroys pompeii
Fossilizes this town.
Archaeologists
discover furniture, food,
Even thousands
of papyrus scrolls.
Geologist guido giordano
Hunts for forensic evidence
to understand
What preserves this town.
Look at this house.
It's fantastic.
Narrator: Encased in a rocky
cocoon of volcanic ash
For nearly 2,000 years
is the villa de papyri.
When archaeologists
unearth these rooms,
They reveal wooden roof supports
scarred black.
Further excavation uncovers
elaborate frescoes
Transformed from their original
yellow to a deep red.
Both are clues of
a destructive force
Unlike anything seen
at nearby pompeii.
How has so much survived the
apocalyptic force of a volcano?
Guido investigates
the volcanic rock
That covers the site.
This cliff is about 80 feet.
Now, this is enough
to completely bury the old town.
Narrator: Guido believes
the different layers of deposits
Are like a volcanic fingerprint.
They reveal exactly what happens
on the day of the eruption.
You can clearly see layering
and changes in color.
The lower part is yellow.
Then it turns into grey.
Looking closer to the texture
and structure of the deposit,
We can work out it's actually
made by several volcanic surges.
Narrator: For the first 12 hours
of its eruption,
Vesuvius throws gas and debris
into the air
Until it towers 21 miles
into the stratosphere.
Northwesterly winds
blow it towards pompeii.
And herculaneum to the west
is initially spared.
During the night,
the ash tower collapses.
A surge of ash and hot gas
barrels down the volcano,
Blasting its way
through herculaneum.
Five more surges
bury the town's buildings
In thick layers of material,
Preserving structures, objects,
and victims almost intact.
This phenomenon is called
pyroclastic flow.
Why doesn't it simply
burn everything in its path?
Buongiorno. Ciao, ciao.
In his lab in rome,
Guido sets up an experiment
to investigate this mystery.
Giordano: We start with a piece
of fresh wood
From the herculaneum area,
Which is the same species
of the carbon
That we find in the deposits.
Narrator: He puts the sample
Inside a heating device
called a calorimeter
To discover what happens
to the exposed wood
From herculaneum
during the eruption.
Giordano: Usually we think that
Wood can burn with flame
and oxygen in a fire.
Narrator: But a pyroclastic flow
is a cloud of toxic gas.
There's no flame or oxygen,
so objects can't burn.
Giordano: What we learned
is that if we heat up
To a very high temperature
with no oxygen,
This piece of wood,
it carbonizes.
But it maintains its shape.
Narrator:
But how hot does it get
In order to carbonize
everything in its path?
So now we will run
several of these experiments
At different temperatures
By increasing
50 degrees each time.
Then they use
a spectrum microscope
To compare the modern samples
To the ancient ones
from herculaneum.
This shows
the equivalent temperature
At which the villa de papyri
wood has been carbonized.
Giordano:
The results demonstrate
the samples of carbon
That we found out in herculaneum
Were actually carbonized
To a temperature
of nearly 500 celsius degrees,
Which is almost
1,000 fahrenheit degrees.
Narrator: In this fiercely hot
oxygen-free environment,
The wooden objects and papyrus
scrolls turned to carbon.
A thick layer of ash
then sets around the town.
It insulates everything
in a protective layer.
Giordano: It is thanks to these
unique set of circumstances
That we can learn so much
about roman life
Even after nearly 2,000 years.
Narrator: Vesuvius preserves
Herculaneum's
astonishing treasures.
But what happens
to the people who live here?
Can a gruesome discovery
Reveal more about vesuvius'
terrifying inferno?
♪
♪
Narrator: The lost roman town
of herculaneum
Is slowly revealing its secrets.
New discoveries help us
to understand what happens here
When vesuvius erupts in 79 a.D.
2,000 years ago,
a searing-hot cloud of toxic gas
Preserves these fine buildings.
At nearby pompeii,
Archaeologists unearthed
more than 1,000 bodies.
But herculaneum's victims
remain elusive.
Until a grim find
reveals their fate.
When archaeologists
uncover these grand arches,
They make
a shocking discovery...
More than 300 skeletons
frozen in time.
Among them, women and children
huddled together,
A woman cradling her baby,
And a young boy
clinging to his dog.
Today, these arches
are 1,600 feet inland.
But when vesuvius erupts,
they are boathouses.
What can these unfortunate
people reveal
About the most
dramatic eruption of all time?
Forensic anthropologist
pier paolo petrone
Hunts for answers.
He wants to find out why
so many people die in one place.
At first, it looks like these
people die waiting for rescue.
But when pier paolo studies
the position of the bodies,
He finds that they are
all trying to take shelter.
Why don't these people
try to escape?
Pier paolo thinks
he knows the answer.
Narrator:
Hours before vesuvius erupts,
Magma pressure causes
a series of tremors.
In herculaneum, people search
for shelter from an earthquake.
Narrator: People in
the bay of naples see vesuvius
Simply as a good place
to grow food.
They use its rich soil for
growing grapes and other crops.
But earthquakes are common
in the area.
And in the 62 a.D. Earthquake,
Buildings in herculaneum
and pompeii are badly damaged.
Local people don't connect
the earthquakes to vesuvius.
They continue their lives
Unaware of the danger
that looms nearby.
When vesuvius erupts in 79 a.D.,
it's sudden and shocking.
By the time people realized
the danger they're in,
It's too late.
So do these people suffocate
as the ash starts to fall?
In his forensic lab in naples,
Pier paolo
searches the skeletons
For the cause of death.
Pier paolo believes the skulls
aren't broken from the outside
But from the inside.
Pier paolo discovers
a strange red residue
Covering many of the bones.
It's evidence that
the furnace-like heat
Of a pyroclastic flow
kills these people.
Mercifully, this gruesome death
Happened so fast
The victims don't know
what hits them.
The pyroclastic flow incinerates
the herculaneum 300
As they huddle together
by the shore.
Who are these
unfortunate people?
And what more can a bizarre find
on the other side of town
Tell us about
the deadly ancient eruption?
♪
♪
Narrator: 12 hours into
mount vesuvius' eruption,
A deadly blast of hot air
and gas
Races down the volcano's slopes.
It strikes the luxury
seaside town of herculaneum
Within seconds.
At the seafront boathouses,
300 people are incinerated
in an instant.
But they're not the only victims
of vesuvius' wrath.
In a building on the corner
of the main street,
A hidden room.
Inside, a stone plinth supports
the remains of a wooden bed.
And in the center,
The skeleton of a man,
Buried where he sleeps.
Inside his exploded skull,
a strange discovery...
Unknown fragments
that looked like glass.
What is this bizarre material?
And what can this man tell us
About the most famous
volcanic eruption in history?
♪
The man is locked for
2,000 years in volcanic rock.
Forensic archaeologist
pier paolo petrone
Is the first person
to investigate his death.
He believes this body
can reveal new clues
To what happens on the night
vesuvius explodes.
The skeleton and wooden bed
are completely carbonized
By the pyroclastic flow
that engulfs the room.
♪
Ciao. Ciao.
Pier paolo takes
the mysterious material
Back to his lab
At the university of naples
to investigate.
At the boathouses,
the pyroclastic flow boils
And vaporizes people's brains.
But here on the opposite side
of town,
It melts one into
a jagged glassy solid.
Pier paolo wants to find out
Why the conditions here
are so different
From at the boathouses.
When the pyroclastic flow
reaches the boathouses,
It mixes with the sea air
and cools.
It's still hot enough to
vaporize flesh and boil brain,
But leaves the skeletons intact.
But in the town's
enclosed buildings,
The flow maintains
its intense heat,
Turning houses into furnaces.
This much hotter flow strips
and then carbonizes
The victim's skeleton
within fractions of a second,
Transforming his brain.
This unfortunate man
dies alone in the house.
Is he sick, unable to escape?
Pier paolo has another theory
to explain why he stays.
Pier paolo believes
the building's rich owners
Might order the man to stay
And protect this house
Even as they flee.
♪
As the volcano erupts,
The caretaker
dies asleep in his bed.
He remains faithful to
his masters until the very end.
Can the discovery of a statue
in herculaneum's main hall
Reveal more dark secrets
in this doomed town?
♪
♪
Narrator: 79 a.D....
Vesuvius erupts
with devastating fury.
In nearby herculaneum,
Some people are too late
to make their escape.
Now new evidence suggests
that not everyone has a choice.
Are some people forced
to stay behind and die?
A clue uncovered
in the heart of the town
Could help solve the mystery
And points to a darker side
of life in the roman world.
When archaeologists unearth
one of herculaneum's
Biggest public buildings,
the basilica,
They discover a statue
hidden in the ash.
It is of a man named
marcus nonius balbus.
And shattered into pieces
are marble tablets
Listing the names of
500 inhabitants of the town.
Many of them are also named
marcus nonius.
Who is this mysterious man?
Why do so many people
in herculaneum share his name?
Archaeologist
andrew wallace hadrill
Wants to find out
how they are connected.
His investigation begins
in the town's main square.
Hadrill:
So here we have this guy.
He really is
the mr. Big of herculaneum.
We've got his name,
marcus nonius balbus,
And we've got
his enormous importance.
He's been praetor in rome
and proconsul.
That means
a provincial governor.
Being a provincial governor
means making a lot of money.
Narrator:
On an altar next to the statue,
Andrew finds
a second inscription.
This great lump of marble
is his tomb.
And the glorious inscription
Tells you
how generous he has been.
He has been like a parent
to the city.
He remade the town walls,
the town gates, the roads,
And even built a basilica.
Narrator: This marcus nonius
Is the town's
most important citizen.
But at a nearby house,
Andrew finds the same name
on a sign hanging from the wall.
This one belongs to
a very different kind of person.
This sign records a dispute
between two neighbors.
On one side, julia,
and on the other side,
Marcus nonius dama.
Dama almost certainly means
he comes from damascus.
He's a syrian.
Narrator: This new marcus nonius
is from the middle east.
Who is he?
And why is he here?
As the roman empire
expands across europe,
The middle east,
and north africa,
Defeated people are captured
and sent back to rome as slaves.
They are put to work
enduring hard labor.
And many are kept in chains
day and night.
Roman slaves are
allowed to earn money
And over time can eventually
buy their freedom.
To sanction their release,
The master touches them
on the head with a staff.
Then they take their old
master's name as their own.
Andrew believes that
the original marcus nonius
Is a wealthy slave owner.
The owner of the tiny house
is his former slave.
Hadrill: If you are wealthy
On the level of
marcus nonius balbus,
You have probably
hundreds of slaves.
Narrator: Herculaneum is home to
Some of the richest people
in the empire.
Each family will own
many slaves.
Hadrill: So this is a town in
which there is an enormous gap
Between free people and slaves.
Here's an inscription
where the local magistrates say
Don't dump rubbish here
by the town water supply.
And they say if you're
a free man, you'll be fined.
If you're a slave,
you'll be flogged.
Narrator: Slaves are not allowed
To leave town
without permission.
But when vesuvius erupts,
are they forced to stay?
Andrew investigates
the possessions
Found with the 300 bodies
discovered in the boathouses.
Many of them had
precious things with them
Because that's what happens
in a disaster.
You grab your valuables and run.
Narrator:
Archaeologists find golden coins
And jewelry on some of the dead.
Evidence that they are
Herculaneum's
wealthier citizens.
But some of them
have no possessions at all.
They are the town's
poorest people.
Hadrill: Not everyone is
the same among these skeletons.
There are some
really rich people,
There are some very poor people.
They've got real valuables
or they've got nothing.
Narrator: Andrew believes
if the victims have nothing,
They are slaves.
Hadrill:
In the moment of disaster,
Everyone thinks
"how do we save ourselves?"
They think there's a safe place
down by the shore.
And they all go down together.
Rich and poor,
free and slave, young and old,
All go down together.
Narrator:
Vesuvius' eruption preserves
A remarkable and tragic story.
As it reaches its climax,
Slaves and masters
cower together.
They end up in the boathouses,
Praying to the gods
for deliverance.
But what happens to the rest
of the town's 4,000 people?
Do their bodies still lie
entombed in the rock?
Can their fate change the way
we see this terrible disaster?
♪
♪
Narrator: In 79 a.D.,
The most famous
volcanic eruption in history
Destroys pompeii,
Along with herculaneum,
its sister town.
It carbonizes 300 people
Hiding in boathouses
by the shore.
But this town is home
to over 4,000 inhabitants.
What happens to everyone else?
Historian stephen tuck
Is determined
to find the answer.
Tuck: Nobody knows the fate
of the people from herculaneum.
Of the city
that originally existed,
Only 25% has been excavated.
The remaining part could be full
Of the remains
of victims of the eruption.
Narrator: Despite this,
stephen thinks
That the bodies in herculaneum's
boathouses are the unlucky few.
He suspects the majority
of the population flees
Before the pyroclastic flow
engulfs the town.
Many people think their bodies
Are outside the city walls
that have never been excavated.
Roads or the seaside
where they fled and perished.
But I think we find
so few bodies at herculaneum
Because people survived.
Narrator: Eight miles
from herculaneum,
Naples is a big
and flourishing city,
Where stephen thinks
he can find evidence
To support his theory.
Tuck: One of the ways we can
find out if people survived
Is to look for inscriptions
Carved on homes, tombs,
public buildings.
Narrator:
The romans carved their names
All over their buildings.
These inscriptions are
crucial clues.
Tuck: In roman times,
many names are unique
To particular communities
or local areas.
So if we find a name
at herculaneum
And we find the same name again
later on in another community,
That must mean
somebody has moved
And that we have a survivor.
Narrator: Stephen does some
ancient detective work.
He tries to match names
from the herculaneum tablets
With inscriptions elsewhere.
He soon finds a survivor.
Tuck: One of the best examples
Is this man here,
caninius botrio,
Who's on the census
for herculaneum
In the last years of the city,
And here he is again
in an inscription at naples.
I think there's no doubt
that this is the same man.
Narrator:
But herculaneum is a town
Inhabited by over 4,000 people.
Are there any other survivors?
Tuck: This is a record
of a marble tablet
That was found in naples
in 1535.
And what it records
is a district in the city
That we didn't know about before
Called the most splendid regent
on the herculaneans.
So it must indicate
that there's a large number
Of herculanean survivors
Who relocate to naples
after the eruption.
Narrator:
The horrific natural disaster
Creates thousands of refugees.
Stephen thinks many of them flee
to a small town called cumae
20 miles to the west
of herculaneum.
Tuck: Before the eruption
of vesuvius in a.D. 79,
Cumae is described as
vacant and quiet.
And it seems to have been
a dying or dead small town.
But then suddenly,
just after 81 a.D.,
There's all this
new construction here.
Narrator: The emperor titus
Launches an ambitious
building program here.
Tuck: A new forum, roads,
aqueducts,
Amphitheater, temples,
and so on.
There must be some reason
for him
To have built
all of these buildings here.
I think the answer must be
For a new population
that has moved in.
Narrator: The true fate
of herculaneum's people
Lies in the towns
across the bay of naples.
Tuck:
When vesuvius erupts in a.D. 79
And destroys pompeii
and herculaneum,
We know this story.
But there's another story
after that,
And it's the story of the people
that got out, the survivors,
Because we have evidence now
for the first time
That strongly suggests
That a great number of people
made it out alive.
Narrator: This perfectly
preserved town is transforming
How we see life
in the roman empire
And the most famous
volcanic eruption in history.
The devastating fury
of mount vesuvius
Engulfs the town of herculaneum.
But the volcano's
hot pyroclastic flow
Also freezes it in time.
This remarkable eruption
preserves roman life
From 2,000 years ago.
Charred papyrus scrolls reveal
how its citizens lived and died.
The 300 victims
in the boathouses
Reveal the horror
of that terrible day.
As panic grips the town,
They make the wrong choice
to stay
And suffer the brutal power
of mount vesuvius.
But many escape
to build new lives,
A phoenix rising from the ashes
Of the most famous eruption
of all time.
♪
♪
of herculaneum,
Buried in the devastating
eruption of mount vesuvius.
This is the best-preserved town
in the whole roman world.
Narrator: The destruction of its
neighbor, pompeii, is legendary.
But herculaneum's story
is a mystery.
What really happened during
its terrifying final hours?
Today, scientists
use forensic technology
And multispectral imaging
To reveal the shocking truth
behind herculaneum's fate.
Blank: Reading the papyrus
has been the biggest challenge
That I've had
in my professional life.
Narrator: Why does fiery vesuvius
preserve this town in astonishing detail?
Giordano: Herculaneum
is completely changing
Our understanding of what
happened on that terrible day.
Narrator: Can new discoveries
here change the way
We see the most famous
volcanic eruption of all time?
To solve these mysteries,
We'll dig inside this
extraordinary volcanic tomb.
We'll tunnel
into ancient buildings
And come face-to-face
with their doomed residents
And reveal the dark secrets
of pompeii's forgotten twin.
UNEARTHED - SEASON 6
EP - 2 - Vesuvius's Secret Victim
♪
In the bay of naples in Italy
Lies a buried ancient wonder...
Herculaneum,
A roman town that sits
in the shadow of mount vesuvius.
In 79 a.D.,
this fiery giant erupts,
Destroying this town
and its neighbor pompeii.
Today, pompeii is world-famous,
But herculaneum,
in comparison, is unknown.
Beneath these modern streets
lies a lost world.
Buried under 75 feet
of volcanic material,
A town frozen in time
for nearly 2000 years.
Roads criss-crossed
the ghost town,
Flanked on each side
By the scorched remains of
shops, bars, and homes.
But in its prime, its streets
are colorful and vibrant.
This is a town
home to over 4,000 people.
But just four miles to the east,
the sleeping volcano vesuvius.
Can new discoveries here
give us fresh insight
Into the terrifying eruption?
The town covers an area
the size of 30 football fields.
But three-quarters of it
remains buried.
Andrew wallace hadrill
is director
Of the herculaneum
conservation project.
He investigates the final hours
of this extraordinary town.
Herculaneum was destroyed
in the same eruption as pompeii.
But unlike pompeii,
the quality of preservation here
Is quite exceptional.
Narrator: Herculaneum is
a volcanic time capsule.
It is preserved in a flash,
Burying clues that can now
reveal exactly what happens
When vesuvius erupts.
Narrator: Look at the height to
which this house is preserved.
There are upper floors there.
In pompeii, upper floors
are mostly completely destroyed.
And then there's woodwork.
Look at this wooden screen
going across.
The preservation of this
wooden screen is extraordinary.
Narrator: It's not just
buildings that are
Frozen in time here.
Inside the buildings,
Archaeologists discover
thousands of objects.
One of the rarest things
about herculaneum
Is the survival
of wooden furniture.
Here we've got a bed,
Wonderful sort of
chest of drawers,
And here's a very moving
thing... a cradle.
The baby was lying in the cradle
when they found it.
Narrator: Excavators also find
remains of food.
Hadrill: Here are some figs.
Herculaneum was famous
for its figs.
You can almost nibble at them.
And here...
This is my favorite...
A loaf of bread.
And it comes from the baker
ready scored for breaking off.
Narrator: Herculaneum is
uncovered accidentally
In the 18th century
When a farmer is digging
for a well and finds a wall.
Today, archaeologists are
still excavating the town
From under millions
of tons of volcanic rock.
In one corner,
an enormous villa emerges.
What we see here is the cliff
face of an enormous excavation,
And right down at the bottom
of it is the villa.
We've only excavated
a small corner of it,
About a tenth
of the whole villa.
The rest continues way off
in that direction.
Narrator: When the original
excavation starts
At the huge villa,
Workmen carve narrow tunnels
Into the thick volcanic rock
by hand.
After more than
two years of digging,
They break through into a room
With strange black cylinders
scattered on the floor
And on shelves.
Over 1,700 papyrus scrolls
Baked black
by the heat of the eruption.
This is the only intact library
from the ancient world.
A monumental find.
What can these scrolls
reveal about life here
In the shadow of vesuvius?
The tunnels excavated
through the villa
Are off-limits to most visitors.
Andrew has unique access
to explore
This claustrophobic labyrinth.
So here we are deep under
tons of volcanic material
Chucked out by vesuvius
that solidifies to hard rock.
Narrator: These tunnels
are still untouched
Since the 1700s.
Deep down here,
Right at the end of this tunnel,
Is where the excavators found
the library of papyri.
Narrator: Most of the library
remains under volcanic rock.
Only a small section
has been explored.
Hadrill: This is the tiny room
in which the explorers
Of the villa found hundreds
of rolls of papyrus.
They looked like
burnt lumps of coal.
Initially, they started chucking
them away until they realized
"no, this is something
much more precious.
There's writing on them."
Narrator:
But what do the scrolls say?
Hadrill: These papyrus scrolls
are so blackened
That it's virtually impossible
To read the black ink
against the black paper.
Narrator: Today, the fragile
scrolls are stored here
At the national library
in naples.
Papyrologist david blank
works to decode
These mysterious ancient texts.
Blank: Reading the papyrus
and reconstructing its text
And then making sense of it
has been the biggest challenge
That I've had
in my professional life.
Narrator: When the scrolls
are found back in the 1700s,
They cause a sensation.
People come from across
the globe to see them.
They soon become
political currency.
The king of naples
gives six scrolls to napoleon
As a peace offering.
He also gifts 18 scrolls
to the british
In exchange for
18 live kangaroos.
But whenever someone tries
to open them,
They crumble to dust.
Many scrolls are destroyed
in an attempt to read them.
What secrets
do the scrolls hide?
Blank: The papyri are
extremely fragile.
If you touch them,
they fall apart.
Sometimes they fall apart
even if you don't touch them.
Sometimes there are also
holes in them
Because parts have
stuck together.
Narrator: Reading the damaged
fragments is almost impossible
With the naked eye.
We have basically
a black background
In the better preserved papyri,
And then you have the ink which
is slightly shiny on top of it.
You can barely see it.
Narrator: To decipher them,
David uses a groundbreaking
technology created by nasa
Called multispectral imaging.
It uses different wavelengths
of infrared light
To separate the ink
from the background.
Suddenly you could see
whole lines of letters and text
That you could actually
then reconstruct
Into an intelligible
piece of writing.
So in essence, we're using
digital-age technology
To read something that was
written 2,000 years ago.
And that's really pretty great.
Narrator: David believes the
scrolls may hide clues
About the villa.
Blank:
To know how to read in rome
Was already something of
a rare-ish achievement.
And to own a lot of books,
to own a library
And a place in which
you could store them,
In which you could read them,
and so on,
Was something that really only
wealthy people could do.
Narrator: When david deciphers
the fragments,
He discovers that most
of the scrolls are written
By a greek philosopher.
It's a vital clue to the
identity of the villa's owner.
Blank: This philosopher had
a very important roman patron
Who was piso.
And piso was also the
father-in-law of julius caesar,
And so a person
who can obviously afford
This extremely
luxurious establishment.
Narrator:
Julius caesar is one of the
most famous romans in history.
Rome's all powerful dictator.
His father-in-law's villa
Is one of
the most magnificent ever found.
It's almost 800 feet long.
Inside are the ruins of what
once were beautiful terraces,
A swimming pool,
and a private vineyard.
Andrew believes
the villa de papyri
Reveals what sort of place
herculaneum is.
Hadrill: In its present state,
you can only begin to imagine
The extraordinary size
and beauty of this villa.
This is rich at a global level.
This is a guy who was
father-in-law of julius caesar.
You don't get more important
than that in roman society.
Narrator: The discovery of
the villa and its incredible papyri
Reveal that herculaneum
is far wealthier
And important
than its neighbor pompeii.
You can think of pompeii
as a working city.
Herculaneum, by comparison,
is more of a vacation city.
This area was the playground
of the roman rich.
The people who made money out of
an empire came on holiday here
And spread out in full luxury.
Narrator: Herculaneum's
remarkable treasures
Reveal a wealthy town
cut off in its prime.
Its citizens abandoned
their elegant homes
In a desperate attempt
to escape.
Why is herculaneum
so well-preserved?
How does so much of this town
Survive a catastrophic
volcanic eruption?
♪
♪
Narrator:
The roman town of herculaneum...
An astonishing time capsule.
The same volcanic eruption
that destroys pompeii
Fossilizes this town.
Archaeologists
discover furniture, food,
Even thousands
of papyrus scrolls.
Geologist guido giordano
Hunts for forensic evidence
to understand
What preserves this town.
Look at this house.
It's fantastic.
Narrator: Encased in a rocky
cocoon of volcanic ash
For nearly 2,000 years
is the villa de papyri.
When archaeologists
unearth these rooms,
They reveal wooden roof supports
scarred black.
Further excavation uncovers
elaborate frescoes
Transformed from their original
yellow to a deep red.
Both are clues of
a destructive force
Unlike anything seen
at nearby pompeii.
How has so much survived the
apocalyptic force of a volcano?
Guido investigates
the volcanic rock
That covers the site.
This cliff is about 80 feet.
Now, this is enough
to completely bury the old town.
Narrator: Guido believes
the different layers of deposits
Are like a volcanic fingerprint.
They reveal exactly what happens
on the day of the eruption.
You can clearly see layering
and changes in color.
The lower part is yellow.
Then it turns into grey.
Looking closer to the texture
and structure of the deposit,
We can work out it's actually
made by several volcanic surges.
Narrator: For the first 12 hours
of its eruption,
Vesuvius throws gas and debris
into the air
Until it towers 21 miles
into the stratosphere.
Northwesterly winds
blow it towards pompeii.
And herculaneum to the west
is initially spared.
During the night,
the ash tower collapses.
A surge of ash and hot gas
barrels down the volcano,
Blasting its way
through herculaneum.
Five more surges
bury the town's buildings
In thick layers of material,
Preserving structures, objects,
and victims almost intact.
This phenomenon is called
pyroclastic flow.
Why doesn't it simply
burn everything in its path?
Buongiorno. Ciao, ciao.
In his lab in rome,
Guido sets up an experiment
to investigate this mystery.
Giordano: We start with a piece
of fresh wood
From the herculaneum area,
Which is the same species
of the carbon
That we find in the deposits.
Narrator: He puts the sample
Inside a heating device
called a calorimeter
To discover what happens
to the exposed wood
From herculaneum
during the eruption.
Giordano: Usually we think that
Wood can burn with flame
and oxygen in a fire.
Narrator: But a pyroclastic flow
is a cloud of toxic gas.
There's no flame or oxygen,
so objects can't burn.
Giordano: What we learned
is that if we heat up
To a very high temperature
with no oxygen,
This piece of wood,
it carbonizes.
But it maintains its shape.
Narrator:
But how hot does it get
In order to carbonize
everything in its path?
So now we will run
several of these experiments
At different temperatures
By increasing
50 degrees each time.
Then they use
a spectrum microscope
To compare the modern samples
To the ancient ones
from herculaneum.
This shows
the equivalent temperature
At which the villa de papyri
wood has been carbonized.
Giordano:
The results demonstrate
the samples of carbon
That we found out in herculaneum
Were actually carbonized
To a temperature
of nearly 500 celsius degrees,
Which is almost
1,000 fahrenheit degrees.
Narrator: In this fiercely hot
oxygen-free environment,
The wooden objects and papyrus
scrolls turned to carbon.
A thick layer of ash
then sets around the town.
It insulates everything
in a protective layer.
Giordano: It is thanks to these
unique set of circumstances
That we can learn so much
about roman life
Even after nearly 2,000 years.
Narrator: Vesuvius preserves
Herculaneum's
astonishing treasures.
But what happens
to the people who live here?
Can a gruesome discovery
Reveal more about vesuvius'
terrifying inferno?
♪
♪
Narrator: The lost roman town
of herculaneum
Is slowly revealing its secrets.
New discoveries help us
to understand what happens here
When vesuvius erupts in 79 a.D.
2,000 years ago,
a searing-hot cloud of toxic gas
Preserves these fine buildings.
At nearby pompeii,
Archaeologists unearthed
more than 1,000 bodies.
But herculaneum's victims
remain elusive.
Until a grim find
reveals their fate.
When archaeologists
uncover these grand arches,
They make
a shocking discovery...
More than 300 skeletons
frozen in time.
Among them, women and children
huddled together,
A woman cradling her baby,
And a young boy
clinging to his dog.
Today, these arches
are 1,600 feet inland.
But when vesuvius erupts,
they are boathouses.
What can these unfortunate
people reveal
About the most
dramatic eruption of all time?
Forensic anthropologist
pier paolo petrone
Hunts for answers.
He wants to find out why
so many people die in one place.
At first, it looks like these
people die waiting for rescue.
But when pier paolo studies
the position of the bodies,
He finds that they are
all trying to take shelter.
Why don't these people
try to escape?
Pier paolo thinks
he knows the answer.
Narrator:
Hours before vesuvius erupts,
Magma pressure causes
a series of tremors.
In herculaneum, people search
for shelter from an earthquake.
Narrator: People in
the bay of naples see vesuvius
Simply as a good place
to grow food.
They use its rich soil for
growing grapes and other crops.
But earthquakes are common
in the area.
And in the 62 a.D. Earthquake,
Buildings in herculaneum
and pompeii are badly damaged.
Local people don't connect
the earthquakes to vesuvius.
They continue their lives
Unaware of the danger
that looms nearby.
When vesuvius erupts in 79 a.D.,
it's sudden and shocking.
By the time people realized
the danger they're in,
It's too late.
So do these people suffocate
as the ash starts to fall?
In his forensic lab in naples,
Pier paolo
searches the skeletons
For the cause of death.
Pier paolo believes the skulls
aren't broken from the outside
But from the inside.
Pier paolo discovers
a strange red residue
Covering many of the bones.
It's evidence that
the furnace-like heat
Of a pyroclastic flow
kills these people.
Mercifully, this gruesome death
Happened so fast
The victims don't know
what hits them.
The pyroclastic flow incinerates
the herculaneum 300
As they huddle together
by the shore.
Who are these
unfortunate people?
And what more can a bizarre find
on the other side of town
Tell us about
the deadly ancient eruption?
♪
♪
Narrator: 12 hours into
mount vesuvius' eruption,
A deadly blast of hot air
and gas
Races down the volcano's slopes.
It strikes the luxury
seaside town of herculaneum
Within seconds.
At the seafront boathouses,
300 people are incinerated
in an instant.
But they're not the only victims
of vesuvius' wrath.
In a building on the corner
of the main street,
A hidden room.
Inside, a stone plinth supports
the remains of a wooden bed.
And in the center,
The skeleton of a man,
Buried where he sleeps.
Inside his exploded skull,
a strange discovery...
Unknown fragments
that looked like glass.
What is this bizarre material?
And what can this man tell us
About the most famous
volcanic eruption in history?
♪
The man is locked for
2,000 years in volcanic rock.
Forensic archaeologist
pier paolo petrone
Is the first person
to investigate his death.
He believes this body
can reveal new clues
To what happens on the night
vesuvius explodes.
The skeleton and wooden bed
are completely carbonized
By the pyroclastic flow
that engulfs the room.
♪
Ciao. Ciao.
Pier paolo takes
the mysterious material
Back to his lab
At the university of naples
to investigate.
At the boathouses,
the pyroclastic flow boils
And vaporizes people's brains.
But here on the opposite side
of town,
It melts one into
a jagged glassy solid.
Pier paolo wants to find out
Why the conditions here
are so different
From at the boathouses.
When the pyroclastic flow
reaches the boathouses,
It mixes with the sea air
and cools.
It's still hot enough to
vaporize flesh and boil brain,
But leaves the skeletons intact.
But in the town's
enclosed buildings,
The flow maintains
its intense heat,
Turning houses into furnaces.
This much hotter flow strips
and then carbonizes
The victim's skeleton
within fractions of a second,
Transforming his brain.
This unfortunate man
dies alone in the house.
Is he sick, unable to escape?
Pier paolo has another theory
to explain why he stays.
Pier paolo believes
the building's rich owners
Might order the man to stay
And protect this house
Even as they flee.
♪
As the volcano erupts,
The caretaker
dies asleep in his bed.
He remains faithful to
his masters until the very end.
Can the discovery of a statue
in herculaneum's main hall
Reveal more dark secrets
in this doomed town?
♪
♪
Narrator: 79 a.D....
Vesuvius erupts
with devastating fury.
In nearby herculaneum,
Some people are too late
to make their escape.
Now new evidence suggests
that not everyone has a choice.
Are some people forced
to stay behind and die?
A clue uncovered
in the heart of the town
Could help solve the mystery
And points to a darker side
of life in the roman world.
When archaeologists unearth
one of herculaneum's
Biggest public buildings,
the basilica,
They discover a statue
hidden in the ash.
It is of a man named
marcus nonius balbus.
And shattered into pieces
are marble tablets
Listing the names of
500 inhabitants of the town.
Many of them are also named
marcus nonius.
Who is this mysterious man?
Why do so many people
in herculaneum share his name?
Archaeologist
andrew wallace hadrill
Wants to find out
how they are connected.
His investigation begins
in the town's main square.
Hadrill:
So here we have this guy.
He really is
the mr. Big of herculaneum.
We've got his name,
marcus nonius balbus,
And we've got
his enormous importance.
He's been praetor in rome
and proconsul.
That means
a provincial governor.
Being a provincial governor
means making a lot of money.
Narrator:
On an altar next to the statue,
Andrew finds
a second inscription.
This great lump of marble
is his tomb.
And the glorious inscription
Tells you
how generous he has been.
He has been like a parent
to the city.
He remade the town walls,
the town gates, the roads,
And even built a basilica.
Narrator: This marcus nonius
Is the town's
most important citizen.
But at a nearby house,
Andrew finds the same name
on a sign hanging from the wall.
This one belongs to
a very different kind of person.
This sign records a dispute
between two neighbors.
On one side, julia,
and on the other side,
Marcus nonius dama.
Dama almost certainly means
he comes from damascus.
He's a syrian.
Narrator: This new marcus nonius
is from the middle east.
Who is he?
And why is he here?
As the roman empire
expands across europe,
The middle east,
and north africa,
Defeated people are captured
and sent back to rome as slaves.
They are put to work
enduring hard labor.
And many are kept in chains
day and night.
Roman slaves are
allowed to earn money
And over time can eventually
buy their freedom.
To sanction their release,
The master touches them
on the head with a staff.
Then they take their old
master's name as their own.
Andrew believes that
the original marcus nonius
Is a wealthy slave owner.
The owner of the tiny house
is his former slave.
Hadrill: If you are wealthy
On the level of
marcus nonius balbus,
You have probably
hundreds of slaves.
Narrator: Herculaneum is home to
Some of the richest people
in the empire.
Each family will own
many slaves.
Hadrill: So this is a town in
which there is an enormous gap
Between free people and slaves.
Here's an inscription
where the local magistrates say
Don't dump rubbish here
by the town water supply.
And they say if you're
a free man, you'll be fined.
If you're a slave,
you'll be flogged.
Narrator: Slaves are not allowed
To leave town
without permission.
But when vesuvius erupts,
are they forced to stay?
Andrew investigates
the possessions
Found with the 300 bodies
discovered in the boathouses.
Many of them had
precious things with them
Because that's what happens
in a disaster.
You grab your valuables and run.
Narrator:
Archaeologists find golden coins
And jewelry on some of the dead.
Evidence that they are
Herculaneum's
wealthier citizens.
But some of them
have no possessions at all.
They are the town's
poorest people.
Hadrill: Not everyone is
the same among these skeletons.
There are some
really rich people,
There are some very poor people.
They've got real valuables
or they've got nothing.
Narrator: Andrew believes
if the victims have nothing,
They are slaves.
Hadrill:
In the moment of disaster,
Everyone thinks
"how do we save ourselves?"
They think there's a safe place
down by the shore.
And they all go down together.
Rich and poor,
free and slave, young and old,
All go down together.
Narrator:
Vesuvius' eruption preserves
A remarkable and tragic story.
As it reaches its climax,
Slaves and masters
cower together.
They end up in the boathouses,
Praying to the gods
for deliverance.
But what happens to the rest
of the town's 4,000 people?
Do their bodies still lie
entombed in the rock?
Can their fate change the way
we see this terrible disaster?
♪
♪
Narrator: In 79 a.D.,
The most famous
volcanic eruption in history
Destroys pompeii,
Along with herculaneum,
its sister town.
It carbonizes 300 people
Hiding in boathouses
by the shore.
But this town is home
to over 4,000 inhabitants.
What happens to everyone else?
Historian stephen tuck
Is determined
to find the answer.
Tuck: Nobody knows the fate
of the people from herculaneum.
Of the city
that originally existed,
Only 25% has been excavated.
The remaining part could be full
Of the remains
of victims of the eruption.
Narrator: Despite this,
stephen thinks
That the bodies in herculaneum's
boathouses are the unlucky few.
He suspects the majority
of the population flees
Before the pyroclastic flow
engulfs the town.
Many people think their bodies
Are outside the city walls
that have never been excavated.
Roads or the seaside
where they fled and perished.
But I think we find
so few bodies at herculaneum
Because people survived.
Narrator: Eight miles
from herculaneum,
Naples is a big
and flourishing city,
Where stephen thinks
he can find evidence
To support his theory.
Tuck: One of the ways we can
find out if people survived
Is to look for inscriptions
Carved on homes, tombs,
public buildings.
Narrator:
The romans carved their names
All over their buildings.
These inscriptions are
crucial clues.
Tuck: In roman times,
many names are unique
To particular communities
or local areas.
So if we find a name
at herculaneum
And we find the same name again
later on in another community,
That must mean
somebody has moved
And that we have a survivor.
Narrator: Stephen does some
ancient detective work.
He tries to match names
from the herculaneum tablets
With inscriptions elsewhere.
He soon finds a survivor.
Tuck: One of the best examples
Is this man here,
caninius botrio,
Who's on the census
for herculaneum
In the last years of the city,
And here he is again
in an inscription at naples.
I think there's no doubt
that this is the same man.
Narrator:
But herculaneum is a town
Inhabited by over 4,000 people.
Are there any other survivors?
Tuck: This is a record
of a marble tablet
That was found in naples
in 1535.
And what it records
is a district in the city
That we didn't know about before
Called the most splendid regent
on the herculaneans.
So it must indicate
that there's a large number
Of herculanean survivors
Who relocate to naples
after the eruption.
Narrator:
The horrific natural disaster
Creates thousands of refugees.
Stephen thinks many of them flee
to a small town called cumae
20 miles to the west
of herculaneum.
Tuck: Before the eruption
of vesuvius in a.D. 79,
Cumae is described as
vacant and quiet.
And it seems to have been
a dying or dead small town.
But then suddenly,
just after 81 a.D.,
There's all this
new construction here.
Narrator: The emperor titus
Launches an ambitious
building program here.
Tuck: A new forum, roads,
aqueducts,
Amphitheater, temples,
and so on.
There must be some reason
for him
To have built
all of these buildings here.
I think the answer must be
For a new population
that has moved in.
Narrator: The true fate
of herculaneum's people
Lies in the towns
across the bay of naples.
Tuck:
When vesuvius erupts in a.D. 79
And destroys pompeii
and herculaneum,
We know this story.
But there's another story
after that,
And it's the story of the people
that got out, the survivors,
Because we have evidence now
for the first time
That strongly suggests
That a great number of people
made it out alive.
Narrator: This perfectly
preserved town is transforming
How we see life
in the roman empire
And the most famous
volcanic eruption in history.
The devastating fury
of mount vesuvius
Engulfs the town of herculaneum.
But the volcano's
hot pyroclastic flow
Also freezes it in time.
This remarkable eruption
preserves roman life
From 2,000 years ago.
Charred papyrus scrolls reveal
how its citizens lived and died.
The 300 victims
in the boathouses
Reveal the horror
of that terrible day.
As panic grips the town,
They make the wrong choice
to stay
And suffer the brutal power
of mount vesuvius.
But many escape
to build new lives,
A phoenix rising from the ashes
Of the most famous eruption
of all time.
♪
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