Herculaneum: Italian And British Experts Restore Ancient Roman Statue

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                                     Italian and British experts restore ancient Roman statue






Herculaneum,
13 Jan. 2009
(AKI)

- A 2000-year-old Roman statue found near the ruins of Pompeii's ancient port of Herculaneum, south of Naples, is being restored with the latest technology by a team
of British scientists.

The statue was discovered by researchers near the coastal town, destroyed by Vesuvius, the same volcano that wiped out nearby Pompeii in 79 A.D.

Scientists from the University of Warwick, the University of Southampton and the Herculaneum Conservation Project, which includes Italian and British archeological experts, are using high-resolution laser scanning, computer graphics and the latest digital technology to restore the statue.

The statue is believed to represent a wounded Amazon warrior, complete with painted hair and eyes preserved by the volcanic ash that buried the town.

Experts from the University of Warwick, Southampton and Herculaneum are now scanning, modelling and digitally recreating the Amazon statue.

"The statue is an incredible find," said Mark Williams, an expert in laser measurement. "Although its age alone makes it valuable, it is unique because it has retained the original painted surface, preserved under the volcanic material that buried Herculaneum."

Williams used state-of-the-art equipment to accurately measure (within 0.05 of a millimetre) every surface of the bust and transferred that information to a computer model.

His colleague Greg Gibbons then used rapid prototyping to create a three-dimensional model of the head including the smallest detail.

Experts in archaeological computing from Southampton, led by Graeme Earl, then used
a novel form of photography to capture an extremely detailed record of the texture and colour of the statue's painted surfaces.

"Cutting edge techniques are vital to the recording of cultural heritage material, since
so much remains unstudied or too fragile to analyse," Earl said.

"Our work at Southampton attempts to bridge the gap between computing and archaeology in bringing the best that colleagues in engineering have to offer to unique artifacts from our past."

The Southampton team is now digitally remodelling and repainting the sculpture. They are using techniques derived from the film industry to recreate the original carved and painted surfaces.

In the final step, Alan Chalmers, an expert in ultra-realistic graphics, will apply techniques to the computer model to exactly reproduce the lighting and environmental conditions under which the painted statue would have originally been created and displayed.

This visualisation will give archaeologists an otherwise impossible view of how the original statue may have looked in its original context.

"Our work will be used both for educational and research purposes to give people new insights into the statue's design, to provide a record for conservators, and to explore how it may have been appreciated over 2000 years ago," Chalmers said.

The Herculaneum Conservation Project was established with The British School at Rome to support the local officials at the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, to safeguard and conserve the ancient site of Herculaneum and its artefacts.

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                                                History of the excavations of Herculaneum







The digs began at Herculaneum in 1738, and continued using the technique of underground tunnels and exploratory and ventilation shafts until 1828, when the "open-air" digs were authorized, and carried out until 1875. After a very long interruption, in 1927 Amedeo Maiuri began again the work , and continued to lead the digs until 1958, but already in 1942 about all the area, constituting the current archaeological park, was brought to light and contemporary restored and covered.

Additional work was done between 1960 and 1969, in the northern sector of Insula VI and along the main street or "Decumanus Maximus", while the last twenty years have concentrated on exploring the ancient shoreline, corresponding to the southern most strip of the archeological area.

In this area 12 rooms were brought to light. These were rooms (fornici) with arched entrances, shelters for boats and warehouse, where many people took refuge escaping from the eruption. In this area it was found the wooden boat, now placed in a pavilion adjacent to the modern offices of the Soprintendenza and the Antiquarium, waiting for a complex work of restoration.

In 1991 a program of excavation for bringing to light Villa of Papyri started.

Carlo Weber discovered Villa of Papyri in 1750 by chance. He excavated the Villa through underground tunnels and accurately surveyed it.

The intervention was possible thanks to extraordinary funds allocated on the basis of the 64/1-3-1986 Law. In 1991 following an agreement between the "Ministero per I Beni Culturali e Ambientali" and the "Agenzia per la promozione e lo sviluppo del Mezzogiorno", the project was given in concession to a Temporary Association (A.T.I.).

The New Excavation was concentrated at the western side of the modern Vico Mare and is connected to the archaeological park through a narrow and deep trench, starting from the House of Aristide and continuing through a gallery beneath Vico Mare.

In reality, only the atrium of the Villa was brought to light, as the remains of the luxurious residence are under some properties not expropriated yet. In the eastern section of the excavations a great building and the southwestern extremity of the city, were brought to light. This part of the city included some houses and a thermal complex with an apsed nympheum.

Because of the collapse of the ancient coastline, after the eruption of 79 A.D., a system of water pump takes continuously control of the water layer.



Last updated: 09/04/2008



http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=History%20of%20the%20excavations%20of%20Herculaneum&idSezione=1727&idSezioneRif=1166

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                                                                  History of Ercolano






The historian Dionigi di Alicarnasso attributes the founding of Herculaneum to Hercules from his return from Spain; while Strabone holds that the city was first in the hands of the Opici-Ocsi, then the Etruscans, then the Pelasgi and at last the Sannites.

As in Pompei and Stabiae, Herculaneum also most likely entered into the orbit of the ‘Nucerina’ confederation. Having rebelled against Rome during the Social War, it was seized and conquered in 89 B.C. by Titus Didius, legate to the Roman General Lucius Cornelius Silla.

The city, thus underwent the process of municipalisation which was adopted by the whole of central-southern Italy.

The city was built on a volcanic plateau having a sheer drop to the sea. It lay at the foot of Vesuvius and was delimited on its western and eastern sides by two rivers. Two inlets provided natural and secure landing points.

Its urban planning, with division into regular plots of land, was put into effect in the first half of the 4th century B.C. During the Augustan era serious renovation work was needed on the city’s buildings. Many public buildings, in fact, were rebuilt and completely restored among which were: the acquaduct, the public fountain network, the castella acquarum, the temples in the Sacred Area, the ‘Suburban Thermal Baths’, the ‘Central Thermal Baths’ and the Gymnasium.

The ruinous earthquake of 62 A.D. rendered many buildings dangerous.
 
After the exploration along underground passageways in the theatre area between 1710 and 1711 the excavations of Herculaneum officially began in 1738. The technique of burrowing through underground passageways and exploring wells was continued until 1875. After a very long interruption period, work was carried out again in 1927 by Amedeo Maiuri until 1958.

In 1961 further work was undertaken in the northern sector, while over the last 20 years the ancient beach has been explored which existed at the same time as the southernmost strip of the archaeological area.

The excavations which have been carried out here since 1981, have revealed many interesting discoveries: around 300 skeletons of fugitives and a boat about 10 metres in length being among them. Recent excavations have been carried out at the grandiose Villa of the Papyri, a large part of which is still buried.



http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=History%20of%20Ercolano&idSezione=1785&idSezioneRif=1772

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