Ancient History and Archaeology.com

Its been a long time since my last post, I know. But not without good reason.

I now have two more Pompeii guides out on RAMA: ‘Civic Pompeii ‘and ‘Pompeii’s Last Days’.

As with the first tour ‘Discovering Pompeii’, the guides aim to tell a story about the life of the ancient city. Each landmark or ‘waypoint’ acts as a focal point to illustrate an episode from that story.

‘Civic Pompeii’ takes the visitor on a journey through the history of Pompeii, focusing on its temples, theatres and forums. It begins and ends with the intriguing triangular forum. This spur of volcanic rock overlooks the central area of Pompeii. In itself, it represents the changing fortunes-and character of a city that began Oscan and ended Roman. It was the city’s earliest sacred centre, before becoming the focal point of the town’s ‘entertainment zone’. By the end of Pompeii’s, life it was the equivalent of a public park.

Thanks to Jeffrey Jacobson of the ‘Pompeii VRL project’ for his permission to use the excellent 3D reconstructions of the triangular forum.

 Additional thanks to William Gunn Glennhouse for allowing me to use his image of a replica Roman basilica.

‘Pompeii’s last Days speaks for itself. The tour takes the visitor through the destruction of Pompeii, using waypoints which represent key stages in the eruption of Vesuvius-and the effect they had on the city.

This tour was a real challenge to write because I had to find waypoints which ran sequentially and fitted into the narrative of the eruption, which I constructed using the latest theories on the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius. There was so much material to choose from; I had to be really selective.

‘Pompeii’s last Days’ was probably my favorite of the Pompeii tours to write. I think this is because I was using the archaeology to tell the story of what is ultimately a human tragedy. At times, it felt quite emotional. This is largely due to so much of the narrative being focused on the human remains from Pompeii.

I’ve written about the plaster casts of Vesuvius’s Roman victims before in my article ‘Human Remains in Pompeii’. The way they preserve a semblance of the people of Pompeii-even in some cases down to details of their clothing and facial expressions- is one of the miracles of the eruption. But it also reminds us that these aren’t simple artifacts-they are people like us. The one that touched me the most is in the child in the picture below. This little boy or girl died suddenly in the early hours of their last day, along with their parents as they tried to escape the building they had been sheltering in.

I suppose ultimately, ‘Pompeii’s Last Days’ reminded me that the city isn’t just a remarkable and fascinating window into the ancient world. It’s the site of a natural disaster.

Currently, RAMA tours are only available on Ipad or IPod. But RAMA is extending the App into android this February. It’s also going to be tweaked so that it can be read offline. This means that the tours can be enjoyed as an interactive themed guide for the many towns and cities they cover and as a historical e-resource.

I certainly hope that as well as providing compelling guides to the city, readers of my Pompeii guides will find them useful historical/archaeological resources for this fascinating city. As well as good stories too.

My first historical travel tour is out now. 'Discovering Pompeii' takes visitors on a journey down the Via dell Abbondanza, one of Pompeii’s main streets, allowing them to experience the day to day life of the Campanian town before its destruction by Vesuvius in 79AD.

Gardens, gladiators, graffiti and politics are all features of the app, as is roman nightlife, an inner city winery and a high class leisure centre. You’ll discovers the homes and businesses of every social class, which gods the Pompeian’s worshipped and what they believed. Find out how the city was supplied with water and why exactly were stepping stones necessary to cross the road.

You’ll also meet some of the people who lived and worked along the Via. There’s Julius Polybius, politician and family man, Asellina, tavern owner and potential madame and Paquius Proculus, the nouveau riche chief magistrate.

Published by Crimson Bamboo as part of the RAMA travel app and produced by Past Preservers, the tour makes a great guided tour if you are visiting Pompeii. I hope it’s a useful resource for Pompeii even if you are not. At the very least, I hope readers find it as much fun to read as it was to write. It’s packed with illustrative pictures, maps and plans. My thanks go to Peter Clements of  '79AD’ website for permission to use some of his house plans designed using Mainstreet GIS.

The tour is available for use on Ipad and IPhone and costs $2.99. See the RAMA Facebook page for details. Or visit  http://bit.ly/iTunesRama.

To find out more about becoming a Rama author, please write to info@pastpreservers.com.

I've recently become the topic editor for archaeology at Suite101. Do you have a good knowledge of archaeology and exciting ideas for concise, informative and original articles that educate and entertain? Then why not sign up today.

More information about writing for Suite can be found here.

There's a new addition to the 'Archaeology in Practice' catagory-an article about Experimental Archaeology.

Without giving too much away (read the article!), experimental archaeology is all about experiencing the past through recreation. Its a key way for archaeologists to learn how things worked or were made in the past as well as useful for helping them understand excavated features.

But experimental archaeology is also a great way for amateur archaeologists and history lovers to have a hands on experience of the past themselves. For instance, why not have a go at flint knapping or another ancient craft? Search the web and you'll be sure to find a workshop in your vicinity.

Worth a look  is the recently constructed replica of a roman House at Wroxeter Roman town in the UK. The house, which was reconstructed by modern builders using Roman methods was a real eye opener into the labour and skill involved in Roman building. Its also shown that houses in Britain at least needed regular repairs, probably because of the weather!

Other articles under Archaeology in Practice include Archaeology and kids, Archaeological Fieldwork, Archaeological Excavation Techniques, Underwater Archaeology, Human Bone Analysis, Forensic Archaeology,  Volunteer Archaeology, and Metal Detectors and Archaeology

There's a new topic section on industrial archaeology, a subject I've not considered in any detail since I was a young archaeologist of 18.

Then I remember visting several deserted mills and factories in the heart of Derbyshire that all dated from the earlier days of the Industrial revolution.

 Although not my particular field of interest, I found them fascinating, particularly as they were relics of heavy industry hidden away in the most beautiful Derbyshire countryside. They also totally informed my idea of industrial archaeology. I, like many other people thought that Industrial archaeology was just that: the archaeology of the industrial revolution.

Industrial archaeology is so much more that that. In fact, I have been unwittingly writing about it for a while now, when i've looked at subjects like  Roman textile manufacturing in Pompeii. But I'm giving away no more than that. If you want to know more, read the articles.

So far, there is an overview of the subject, followed by an articles on Ironbridge, the reputed birthplace of the industrial revolution. But there was also industry in the Ironbridge Gorge long before Abraham Darby.

Its a fsacinating subject and there will be more articles to come so if you are interested, watch the page.

Journey Through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead:

British Museum 4 November 2010-6 March 2011

£12 admission-children free

There's a chance to see rare examples of the Book of the Dead, the Egyptian handbook to surviving the afterlife at the British Museum. Many of the linen and papyrus spells have not been seen before and may not be seen again for some time due to their fragile state. So its well worth a journey if you are keen on the mystical side of Egyptian life.

Special features of the exhibition include an introductory film and a family multimedia guide for young Egyptologists as well as hands on activities such as scarab badge making.

After months of playing, I have finally finished updating the site. Enough said. I hope the final result speaks for itself.

I'm more than happy to receive feedback on the new site and i'm not looking for idle praise. I want Ancient History and Archaeology.com to serve a useful purpose to anyone interested in the subjects and looking for information on the web. So any suggestions for further  improvements will be gratefully received.

Having said that, unless anyone does pipe up, I am now finished with fiddling until I move the 'Travel' section to the new purpose designed website I am currently working on.

There's a new article on the renamed 'Archaeology in Practice' page (formerly archaeological techniques).  

Why the name change? Well, I'm starting to write articles about how people of all ages can become practically involved in archaeology. The latest, 'Archaeology for Kids' deals with the different ways young enthusiasts can become involved in archaeology.  

The question of responsible supervision is a theme running throughout. This is vital for several reasons: so that the young people involved learn techniques correctly, safely and with adults who have been cleared to work with children. 

I know that this is a concern for many parents and something that stops many people from allowing their children to go on digs. As I say in the article and will again here, if in doubt, check to find out if supervising adults have been cleared to work with children.

I’ve just finished a batch of articles about Jerash in Jordan. It’s a Roman city-the best preserved in that country in fact and it’s packed with fascinating archaeology.

Its main cardo is lined with archaeological features from the city’s heyday including the oval forum, temple of Zeus, theatres, bath houses and the entrance to the sanctuary of Artemis.

The sanctuary is, for me, the highlight of Jerash. Its approach from the main cardo is via a reconstructed stairway. Once, the temple was hidden from view behind the colonnades of the sanctuary but now it seems to rise up before your eyes. It’s an impressive sight, even in ruins and full of locals selling tea to sightseers. It has a very special atmosphere, one I’ve rarely come across before at other temple sites.

Perhaps that’s because it was never Christianized as many other pagan sanctuaries were across the city. There are the remains of some fine Byzantine churches in Jerash. The mosaic floor of the church of St Cosmas and Damian is particularly worth a look.

Many people compare the ancient mania for gladiators with the sports and athletics stars of today. Why not reality TV?

Whilst it may seem a little trivial to compare the life and death struggles of the arena with the pointless posturing of groups of wannabees in the jungle or a house, there are some similarities between the two. At least from the point of view of the spectators.

Gladiatorial games may have begun their life in Rome as memorial events for the patrician dead but they became wildly popular with the general populace-in much the same way as certain reality shows today. They were even paid for by politicians to win over the voters.

Like reality TV, they had their detractors. The orator Cicero hated them, questioning the pleasure of watching an animal or human being slaughtered. Seneca felt very much the same. Like many of today’s viewers who bewail the proliferation of tacky, shows which exploit the worst kinds of human weakness on our screens, these roman intellectuals objected on the grounds of good taste and the gratuitous enjoyment of the crowd of the sufferings of others.

This, however, is perhaps where the similarities stop. For gladiators may have been regarded as the lowest of the low- social outcasts tainted by their association with death, but they were not the attention seeking, greedy and often needy participants of today’s reality TV.

They were heroes to some. Cicero and Seneca may have hated the spectacles but they viewed the examples of the fighters as instructive. To them, gladiators encapsulated many valued Roman virtues-bravery, honour and martial skill. And, if the evidence of Pompeii is to be believed, they were heroes of a different kind to many women and girls. And whilst, like in today’s reality shows, some free Romans and women were attracted to the arena by the prospect of fame and money; most gladiators were slaves and criminals. They had no choice and although they may have achieved fame, a fortune wasn’t likely. The major prize for them at the end of the day was their lives.

Analysis of bones from bodies in a potential gladiator’s graveyard in York shows that gladiator’s often led harsh, even cruel lives with the lowest sort being chained in cells. But unlike reality show contestants, gladiators weren’t so readily discarded. A lanista invested a great deal of time and money in the training of his gladiators. Perhaps that’s why, in Pompeii at least, it was more common for losers to be reprieved rather than killed in the arena.

And whilst gladiators may have been social outcasts, they were at least part of a close community which ensured that their passing was marked respectfully and they had a decent burial. Better than the average reality contestant who can only hope to have salacious stories sold to the tabloids by their supposed friends.

But even gladiators can be victims of the over imaginative modern press. Consider the case of a large female in a roman graveyard near Hereford, UK. Despite being buried with no weapons or significant grave goods, the woman’s size alone was enough to incite the press into proclaiming her a female gladiator.

Which goes to prove you shouldn’t always believe what you read in the papers,