As an old Pompeianist I must say that you should have seen what Pompeii has
looked like in the past, especially the sixties. Ironically, they have made
some progress..limiting visitors to certain key areas, etc.  But they have a
long way to go in stabilizing what arguably is one of the oldest
continuously excavated sites in the world. They have, I believe , severely
limited digging in the top layers (volcanic deposits down to 79 tpq) and
have excavated the pre-79 deposits instead.Its a great site but it needs
lots of help.   David G. Orr F.A.A.R. 1971-73.


On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 4:48 PM, geoff carver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Yep. And if nothing else, if it was transparent, we could all learn from
> it,
> too. I heard a lecture about some of the problems with Pompeii at the EAA a
> few years back: use of reinforced concrete was a problem, since the steel
> rods eventually rust and the concrete crumbles, etc.
> On the one hand, it's a vicious cycle: the site brings tourists & money,
> but
> on the other hand they don't have the money to maintain what has already
> been exposed (and this problem has been commented upon since the days of
> William Hamilton).
> But if a site this famous, and this important for the history of
> archaeology
> (and/or historical archaeology) can't do it, what can the rest of us
> expect?
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> We are all facing this
> issue, and it continues to be a challenge.
>