The rediscovery and excavation of Herculaneum in the eighteenth century began the long process of recovering the city, which is still not complete. Buried in tufa rock after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, the site was tunnelled into, rob out, vandalised and often ignored until open-air excavations beginning in the nineteenth century once again revealed Herculaneum to the world.

Lost But Not Forgotten

As a result of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, Herculaneum was encased in tufa rock, formed from the volcanic ash which covered the town. The town was lost to the world, buried for up to twenty-five meters in places.

But although lost, the town was not forgotten. The fourth-century Roman Peutinger map clearly shows the settlement still marked. The occupants of Resina, the small village that grew up over the town certainly knew something lay beneath their village.

The people of Resina were used to finding ancient fragments of marble and strange objects. These were usually quietly sold.  Some incidents drew a certain amount of attention such as the “ancient building of wonderful elegance” reported by Fabio Giordano in his Historia Napolitana. But otherwise, Herculaneum was in no danger of being uncovered.

The Prince d’Elbeuf

In 1709, a local farmer unearthed some particularly eye-catching marbles while digging a well. This time, his discovery alerted the Prince d’Elbeuf, a commander with the Austrian army at Naples. The Prince was constructing a palace for himself at nearby Portici, and the marbles caught his eye as potential interior decorations. Wondering what else there was to be found, he immediately ordered further explorations.

However, the hard tufa covering the remains — and the fact that a settlement lay directly above them posed a challenge. So, the excavators sunk vertical shafts that allowed them to reach the ruins via a series of tunnels.

The excavators struck gold as they had discovered what proved to be the theatre of Herculaneum. But the Prince’s motive was not curiosity but greed. For the next five years, the theatre was not only explored but systematically plundered. Many of its’ walls and friezes were destroyed by these early explorations, as excavators searched for statues and other decorative objects which ended up in the Prince d’Elbeuf new palace and even the church in his hometown.

The Bourbons

After the Spanish war of succession in 1732, Naples became a separate kingdom, headed by Charles Bourbon, son of the King of Spain. The new King wanted to put not only his court but his new Kingdom on the cultural map of Europe. The best way to do this was to dig up the past —literally.

From 1738, military engineers began systematic digs at Herculaneum. More shafts and tunnels began to reveal buildings such as the Basilica Nonius, the mysterious Porticus, the palaestra and the spectacular Villa of the Papyri. All were explored and systematically mapped by professionals such as the architect and engineer Karl Weber who oversaw the first organised excavations of Herculaneum. 

Weber is responsible for detailed, early plans of the theatre, Herculaneum’s basilica and Villa of the Papyri — all of which remain buried today. The remains were plotted room by room, with Weber and his team reaching them by smashing through walls to reach them. 

However, despite the beginnings of proper archaeological investigation, Herculaneum was still being mistreated. Besides the walls that Weber carelessly smashed through, destroying frescos in the process, excavators destroyed many other “unimportant” features as they dug for beautiful items to plunder. Statues, frescos and marbles were removed to adorn the Portici palace now owned by the Charles; treasures that he left in the palace when he abandoned Naples to become King of Spain. However, those items the King had rejected or that could not be removed from Herculaneum were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of foreigners.

‘Open Cast’ Excavation

With the death of Weber in 1780, the excavations began to lose their impetuous. They were soon abandoned altogether when the discovery of nearby Pompeii eclipsed Herculaneum.

However, in 1828, the excavation of Herculaneum resumed. This time, it was motivated by genuine archaeological curiosity rather than greed. The dangerous practice of tunnelling was abandoned. Instead, the tufa rock which encased the town was removed horizontally, exposing the buildings of Herculaneum for the first time in nearly 2000 years.

Excavators began by uncovering the third of the town’s vertical streets, known as Cardo III. At the same time, they began to discover the buildings lining the road. The House of Argos, which had an intact second floor and the House of the Skeleton were amongst the first private dwellings discovered. In 1869, Giuseppe Fiorelli took over as director of excavations. He continued further north up Cardo III, uncovering the central baths, the oldest baths in the town before the excavations ground to a halt again with Fiorelli’s departure in 1875.

But the site was now at risk in another way. With the supportive tufa removed, many of the fragile buildings began to collapse. The problem of how to conserve Herculaneum had begun.

Amedeo Maiuri 

The twentieth century represented the glory days of the excavation of Herculaneum. In 1927, Amedeo Maiuri took over as director of the site. He aimed to uncover as much of Herculaneum as possible. He began to remove the slum dwellings of Resina to excavate the ancient town.

By 1929, Maiuri had uncovered the whole of insula III. He revealed many of the town’s most interesting dwellings, including the cliffside the House of the Inn — the only house in Herculaneum to have a private bath suite — House of the Wooden Partition, with its carbonised wooden doors and the House of the Wattlework, a multi-story apartment building. During this period, Maiuri also uncovered the luxurious House of the Stags and House of the Mosaic Atrium which overlooked the ancient coastline.

By 1934, the whole of the Central Baths, the Samnite House, House of Carbonized Furniture and the House of Neptune and Amphitrite were excavated. By the time excavations halted in 1942, the palestra on the eastern edge of the town and the Decumanus Maximus — the main street of Herculaneum — were also re-exposed.

Maiuri’s work was pioneering and involved carefully reconstructing the damaged buildings. His one weakness was his rather creative interpretation and display of finds. In the House of the Weaver, he assembled a loom, and other household finds around a body on a bed (interpreted as female when in fact it was male) to tell a touching tale of a young weaver killed in her room.

Resina itself halted Maiuri’s ambitions for the excavation of Herculaneum. It just wasn’t possible to uncover any more of the ancient town without destroying the settlement that had grown up over it. So, the extent of Herculaneum’s excavations were set by the Decumanus Maximus and Cardo III in the west.

The Excavation of Herculaneum Today

But Herculaneum continues to reveal its secrets. In the 1970s, the structurally impressive cliffside suburban baths were excavated. Investigations then progressed to the harbour. A lack of bodies in Herculaneum had long led to speculation that the residents had escaped. In 1981, the truth was revealed, when the boat sheds along the shore were discovered to contain the bodies of many of Herculaneum’s citizens, instantaneously killed by the high temperatures of the pyroclastic surge which destroyed the town.

Today, the excavation of Herculaneum continues. Significant works are in progress along the shoreline and at the nearby Villa of the Papyri, as well as to the north-west of the town.

Sources

Herculaneum Conservation Project

Pirozzi, M “Herculaneum-the excavations, local history and surroundings.” Electra Naples (Ministerio per I Beni e le Attivita Culturali Soprintendenza Archaeological di Pompei).

Wallace-Hadrill, A (2011). ‘Herculaneum: Past and Future’. Frances Lincoln Limited: London.