Pompeii Wrecked by Earthquake at Same Time as Vesuvius Eruption, Research Shows - The N... - 0 views
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Researchers have always had an inkling that seismic activity contributed to the city’s destruction. The ancient writer Pliny the Younger reported from his vantage point in a nearby town that the eruption of Vesuvius had been accompanied by violent tremors.
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A team of researchers led by Domenico Sparice from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology decided to investigate this gap in the record.
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Dr. Sparice said that excavations of Pompeii to date had not included experts in the field of archaeoseismology, which deals with the effects of earthquakes on ancient buildings. Contributions from specialists in this area were key to the discovery, he said.
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“The effects of seismicity have been speculated by past scholars, but no factual evidence has been reported before our study,” Dr. Sparice said, adding that the finding was “very exciting.”
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The team focused on the Insula of the Chaste Lovers. This area encompasses several buildings, including a bakery and a house where painters were evidently interrupted by the eruption, leaving their frescoes uncolored. After excavation and careful analysis, the researchers concluded that walls in the insula had collapsed because of an earthquake.
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First, they ruled out hazards such as falling debris as a primary cause of the destruction — a deposit of stones under the wall fragments in the insula suggested it did not crumble during the eruption’s initial stage. Then they compared the damage to known effects of seismic destruction — for example, on historical buildings.
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The excavation also revealed a pair of skeletons covered with wall fragments in the insula. One skeleton even showed signs of having attempted to take cover. According to the researchers, bone fracture patterns and crushing injuries observed in modern earthquake victims are evidence that these unfortunate Romans were killed by a building collapse.
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The end result is an updated timeline of Pompeii’s epic demise: First, volcanic lapilli (small stones) rained down for 18 hours, causing many roofs to collapse and killing people who sought shelter. Then, an earthquake triggered by the eruption violently rocked the city, killing even more residents. Finally, massive flows of ash and debris streamed through the city streets, sealing Pompeii’s fate for eternity.
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“The evidence is always there — it just takes new questions, and new eyes, to look for it,” he said. “Archaeology shouldn’t be an entirely insular profession.”
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Dr. Dicus pointed to how archaeologists are bringing in experts from the fields of architecture, data science and forensic anthropology to answer questions about the lives of average people in Pompeii, and not just their deaths.