Latest news with #excavations
CNN
5 days ago
- General
- CNN
People moved back to Pompeii after devastating eruption, excavations reveal
The once-thriving Roman city of Pompeii resembles an eerie time capsule, seemingly unoccupied since a catastrophic volcanic eruption in AD 79, with the remains of its inhabitants forever frozen under a blanket of ash. But a closer look may reveal another bleak chapter in the tragedy's aftermath, according to new research. Recently unearthed clues suggest that a number of people, including survivors of the disaster as well as transients, returned to live among the ruins after the eruption, based on discoveries made during ongoing excavations of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in southern Italy. But it's impossible to reconstruct a complete picture of exactly how many people returned and in what circumstances based on what has been uncovered so far, said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park. Researchers currently investigating the Insula Meridionalis, a neighborhood in the southernmost part of the city, found pieces of pottery and other evidence dated to after the city's devastation over the course of the past year. The artifacts paint a picture of how, after the eruption, people sought refuge in the upper floors of buildings visible above the ash, Zuchtriegel said. Pompeii's residents ultimately abandoned the site following another devastating eruption in the fifth century, and the city remained undisturbed until excavations began in 1748. Zuchtriegel, an archaeologist and coauthor of a new study published on August 6 in the E-Journal of the Excavations of Pompeii, said the city's initial destruction in AD 79 has 'monopolized memory.' Previous traces of Pompeii's reoccupation, he added, have been known by researchers — but also largely ignored. 'In the enthusiasm to reach the levels of 79, with wonderfully preserved frescoes and furnishings still intact, the faint traces of the site's reoccupation were literally removed and often swept away without any documentation,' Zuchtriegel said in a statement. 'Thanks to the new excavations, the picture is now clearer: post-79 Pompeii reemerges, less as a city than as a precarious and gray agglomeration, a kind of encampment, a favela among the still recognizable ruins of the Pompeii of old.' During excavations of one building in Insula Meriodionalis, archaeologists determined that some of the structure's vaulted ceilings didn't collapse until sometime between the second and fourth centuries, meaning its storerooms were likely partially visible on the surface as people returned to Pompeii. Artifacts uncovered at the site suggest spaces that had once served as ground floors became cellars and caves where the latest occupants constructed ovens, mills and fireplaces. Items found in the building's storerooms also indicate that the reoccupation of Pompeii was likely more permanent than transitory, Zuchtriegel said. The researchers discovered remains of ceramics and cooking vessels, including a ceramic lamp decorated with an early symbol of Christ, all dated to the fifth century. The team also found a small, family-style bread oven from the same time period that was built with reused materials, such as bricks and tiles, within a Roman cistern. A coin among the Insula Meriodionalis haul that depicts the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, dated to AD 161, suggests people returned to Pompeii just a few decades after the infamous eruption, Zuchtriegel said. People inhabited the city until the 'Pollena eruption' of Mount Vesuvius in 472, but Pompeii failed to become the thriving, vital port town it was before. A series of additional eruptions also occurred early in the sixth century, according to the study authors. 'These events likely caused serious damage to an already weak economy and may have led to the abandonment of the settlements attested in the Vesuvian area,' the authors wrote in the study. Researchers estimate the city was once home to about 20,000 people when the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption occurred, and debate about how many died during the disaster is ongoing. So far, archaeologists have uncovered two-thirds of Pompeii and found the remains of about 1,300 people — a number that doesn't include those who perished beyond the center of town. With nowhere else to go, survivors likely returned to the ruins, living in an ash desert and looking for remnants of their homes and items — and sometimes in the process unearthing remains of victims, like the skeleton of a horse found wedged between two beams in the Insula Meriodionalis. Amid the pillaging of homes, Roman magistrates were likely sent to the city to prevent an anarchic type of existence, based on ancient literary sources the authors referenced in the study. Titus, Roman emperor from AD 79 to 81, sent two consuls to the Campanian region where Pompeii is located after the eruption to provide aid, assess the city and reallocate the property of those who had died in the eruption with no surviving heirs, Zuchtriegel said. The emperor also provided funds to help survivors, and one text even suggests he visited Pompeii after the eruption, Zuchtriegel added. Vegetation also slowly returned to the land, and Pompeii's post-eruption inhabitants dug wells to reach groundwater beneath the ash coating the city, the study authors said. The post-eruption settlers also buried their own, based on evidence of a newborn that was interred at the site during the reoccupation. 'We have to assume that although occupation was not temporary, life within the ruins must have been fairly basic although a latrine had been constructed presumably for those tending to the baking of bread,' Zuchtriegel said. 'Most of the comforts of first century Roman life had been eradicated.' The study demonstrates that contemporary archaeology is not about hunting for treasure, but reading signs in the sediment and understanding relationships among all the surviving physical evidence, said Daniel Diffendale, postdoctoral researcher at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. He was not involved in the new research. Diffendale noted that scattered evidence for human activity at Pompeii post-eruption existed prior to the new study, but this latest research uncovers a previously unknown level of detail. 'This is more evidence of stable post-eruption habitation,' Diffendale wrote in an email. 'These are people carving out residences from utilitarian spaces, not living in luxurious atrium houses. On the other hand, this could also represent a part of the population that wasn't living in those luxurious houses prior to the eruption either, and whose lives are scarcely visible elsewhere in Pompeii.' Future excavations could reveal how the people reoccupying Pompeii supported themselves, whether it was through salvaging remains of the city, trying to live off the land agriculturally or creating some other form of commerce, he said. Dr. Marcello Mogetta, chair of the department of classics, archaeology and religion at the University of Missouri, said the Archaeological Park of Pompeii's staff should be commended for bringing the afterlife of the Roman town into sharper focus through its excavations and exhibitions. Mogetta was not involved in this research, but he is leading a project that investigates an area near the one discussed in the study. One of the authors of the new study is the officer responsible for the sector of Pompeii that Mogetta is studying, he said. 'This study ultimately highlights the resilience of the inhabitants of the wider Vesuvian region and their active role in the economic recovery of the area over periods that have been largely removed from the site's long-term history,' Mogetta said. The findings shed light on the 'invisible city' of Pompeii that rose again after AD 79 — one that is just beginning to be investigated, the authors wrote in the report. 'In these cases, we archaeologists feel like psychologists of memory buried in the earth: we bring out the parts removed from history, and this phenomenon should lead us to a broader reflection on the archaeological unconscious, on everything that is repressed or obliterated or remains hidden, in the shadow of other seemingly more important things,' Zuchtriegel said. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
CNN
5 days ago
- General
- CNN
People moved back to Pompeii after devastating eruption, excavations reveal
The once-thriving Roman city of Pompeii resembles an eerie time capsule, seemingly unoccupied since a catastrophic volcanic eruption in AD 79, with the remains of its inhabitants forever frozen under a blanket of ash. But a closer look may reveal another bleak chapter in the tragedy's aftermath, according to new research. Recently unearthed clues suggest that a number of people, including survivors of the disaster as well as transients, returned to live among the ruins after the eruption, based on discoveries made during ongoing excavations of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in southern Italy. But it's impossible to reconstruct a complete picture of exactly how many people returned and in what circumstances based on what has been uncovered so far, said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park. Researchers currently investigating the Insula Meridionalis, a neighborhood in the southernmost part of the city, found pieces of pottery and other evidence dated to after the city's devastation over the course of the past year. The artifacts paint a picture of how, after the eruption, people sought refuge in the upper floors of buildings visible above the ash, Zuchtriegel said. Pompeii's residents ultimately abandoned the site following another devastating eruption in the fifth century, and the city remained undisturbed until excavations began in 1748. Zuchtriegel, an archaeologist and coauthor of a new study published on August 6 in the E-Journal of the Excavations of Pompeii, said the city's initial destruction in AD 79 has 'monopolized memory.' Previous traces of Pompeii's reoccupation, he added, have been known by researchers — but also largely ignored. 'In the enthusiasm to reach the levels of 79, with wonderfully preserved frescoes and furnishings still intact, the faint traces of the site's reoccupation were literally removed and often swept away without any documentation,' Zuchtriegel said in a statement. 'Thanks to the new excavations, the picture is now clearer: post-79 Pompeii reemerges, less as a city than as a precarious and gray agglomeration, a kind of encampment, a favela among the still recognizable ruins of the Pompeii of old.' During excavations of one building in Insula Meriodionalis, archaeologists determined that some of the structure's vaulted ceilings didn't collapse until sometime between the second and fourth centuries, meaning its storerooms were likely partially visible on the surface as people returned to Pompeii. Artifacts uncovered at the site suggest spaces that had once served as ground floors became cellars and caves where the latest occupants constructed ovens, mills and fireplaces. Items found in the building's storerooms also indicate that the reoccupation of Pompeii was likely more permanent than transitory, Zuchtriegel said. The researchers discovered remains of ceramics and cooking vessels, including a ceramic lamp decorated with an early symbol of Christ, all dated to the fifth century. The team also found a small, family-style bread oven from the same time period that was built with reused materials, such as bricks and tiles, within a Roman cistern. A coin among the Insula Meriodionalis haul that depicts the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, dated to AD 161, suggests people returned to Pompeii just a few decades after the infamous eruption, Zuchtriegel said. People inhabited the city until the 'Pollena eruption' of Mount Vesuvius in 472, but Pompeii failed to become the thriving, vital port town it was before. A series of additional eruptions also occurred early in the sixth century, according to the study authors. 'These events likely caused serious damage to an already weak economy and may have led to the abandonment of the settlements attested in the Vesuvian area,' the authors wrote in the study. Researchers estimate the city was once home to about 20,000 people when the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption occurred, and debate about how many died during the disaster is ongoing. So far, archaeologists have uncovered two-thirds of Pompeii and found the remains of about 1,300 people — a number that doesn't include those who perished beyond the center of town. With nowhere else to go, survivors likely returned to the ruins, living in an ash desert and looking for remnants of their homes and items — and sometimes in the process unearthing remains of victims, like the skeleton of a horse found wedged between two beams in the Insula Meriodionalis. Amid the pillaging of homes, Roman magistrates were likely sent to the city to prevent an anarchic type of existence, based on ancient literary sources the authors referenced in the study. Titus, Roman emperor from AD 79 to 81, sent two consuls to the Campanian region where Pompeii is located after the eruption to provide aid, assess the city and reallocate the property of those who had died in the eruption with no surviving heirs, Zuchtriegel said. The emperor also provided funds to help survivors, and one text even suggests he visited Pompeii after the eruption, Zuchtriegel added. Vegetation also slowly returned to the land, and Pompeii's post-eruption inhabitants dug wells to reach groundwater beneath the ash coating the city, the study authors said. The post-eruption settlers also buried their own, based on evidence of a newborn that was interred at the site during the reoccupation. 'We have to assume that although occupation was not temporary, life within the ruins must have been fairly basic although a latrine had been constructed presumably for those tending to the baking of bread,' Zuchtriegel said. 'Most of the comforts of first century Roman life had been eradicated.' The study demonstrates that contemporary archaeology is not about hunting for treasure, but reading signs in the sediment and understanding relationships among all the surviving physical evidence, said Daniel Diffendale, postdoctoral researcher at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. He was not involved in the new research. Diffendale noted that scattered evidence for human activity at Pompeii post-eruption existed prior to the new study, but this latest research uncovers a previously unknown level of detail. 'This is more evidence of stable post-eruption habitation,' Diffendale wrote in an email. 'These are people carving out residences from utilitarian spaces, not living in luxurious atrium houses. On the other hand, this could also represent a part of the population that wasn't living in those luxurious houses prior to the eruption either, and whose lives are scarcely visible elsewhere in Pompeii.' Future excavations could reveal how the people reoccupying Pompeii supported themselves, whether it was through salvaging remains of the city, trying to live off the land agriculturally or creating some other form of commerce, he said. Dr. Marcello Mogetta, chair of the department of classics, archaeology and religion at the University of Missouri, said the Archaeological Park of Pompeii's staff should be commended for bringing the afterlife of the Roman town into sharper focus through its excavations and exhibitions. Mogetta was not involved in this research, but he is leading a project that investigates an area near the one discussed in the study. One of the authors of the new study is the officer responsible for the sector of Pompeii that Mogetta is studying, he said. 'This study ultimately highlights the resilience of the inhabitants of the wider Vesuvian region and their active role in the economic recovery of the area over periods that have been largely removed from the site's long-term history,' Mogetta said. The findings shed light on the 'invisible city' of Pompeii that rose again after AD 79 — one that is just beginning to be investigated, the authors wrote in the report. 'In these cases, we archaeologists feel like psychologists of memory buried in the earth: we bring out the parts removed from history, and this phenomenon should lead us to a broader reflection on the archaeological unconscious, on everything that is repressed or obliterated or remains hidden, in the shadow of other seemingly more important things,' Zuchtriegel said. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
Irish Times
28-07-2025
- Irish Times
Ten days in Mexico: ‘Is it dangerous, everyone wants to know'
'Had you come here a few years ago, all of this would have been dirt.' It's a sweltering morning in Mexico and our guide, Manuel, is leading us along a dusty path at the ruins of Teotihuacán, an ancient city 50km northeast of the capital. Already today, we've climbed the hazardous steps of what everyone calls pyramids. (They're not pyramids, Manuel insists, they're geometric shapes, with no point at the top, and were built to replicate the mountains that flank them.) We've learned about human sacrifices, days named after animals, the importance of corn. Now, Manuel is pointing towards a network of low walls, demarking apartments of those who once lived here. No one knows for certain who these people were – they were pre-Aztec, possibly Otomi – but excavations continue to uncover more about their once-powerful civilisation all the time. I point to the other side of the path, where patches of grass, cactus and agave grow from red dirt. 'What about over here?' I ask, jokingly. 'What might be hidden under our feet?' Quite sincerely, without missing a beat, he says 'a whole world'. READ MORE Indeed, there's likely far more to be unearthed beneath the soil at Teotihuacán, if only funding would allow (some estimate that only 3 per cent has been explored so far). But Manuel's projections also seem an apt way to describe Mexico itself; a country you could explore for years and still only scratch the surface. The good news: direct flights will soon operate from Dublin, with a new Aer Lingus route starting January 2026 . The bad news: those flights are to Cancún, the Americanised resort area on the Caribbean coast. Go for the sunsets and the cenotes, but to see the best of Mexico, you need to go further afield. In May of this year, my husband and I spent five days in Mexico City (or CDMX – Ciudad de México), and five days in Oaxaca de Juárez, the capital of the nearby state of Oaxaca. Connecting flights to CDMX from Dublin are available from a range of carriers. We booked with Iberia, and flew via Dallas, spending about 12 hours in the air, across two flights. [ Direct flights to Cancún may say more about the US than Mexico Opens in new window ] Is it dangerous, everyone wants to know upon hearing of our trip, as though we might happen upon a drug cartel at the hotel breakfast. CDMX is the largest city in Latin America. There's severe wealth inequality, and according to statistics, the crime rate is high, with much of it concentrated in the northern and eastern regions. We stay in the upscale area of Roma Norte. With its tree-lined streets, colourful facades and kitsch Marian shrines, questions of safety seem strange and obscure. Only the roaming pickup trucks upon which groups of policemen stand upright, armed with machine guns, give any allusion to a lurking threat. Originally built on a series of islands, CDMX now sits on the drained basin of Lake Texcoco, with centuries of history – from Aztec temples, to colonial cathedrals, to modern skyscrapers – layered on top. The city perches more than 2,000m above sea level – higher than San Moritz, higher than Flagstaff, just shy of the famously elevated distance-runner's haven of Iten, in Kenya. Combine this with a seven-hour time difference, and tiredness is inevitable in the first few days. Ancient Teotihuacán pyramids and ruins in Mexico City. Photograph: Getty Images But with jet lag comes blessings. We rise early and drink coffee in Roma Norte's speciality coffee shops.. We choose the 7am start for a trip to the aforementioned Teotihuacán, beating the crowds and the worst of the day's heat. A variety of tours are available from sites such as , and others. The hot air balloon option is popular among those not terrified of heights, but we choose the half-day tour, for $850 MXN (€39) including shuttle, entrance fee and guided tour, and are not disappointed. Driving out of the city, its scale announces itself. We pass a colonia populare with a population of around half a million. The valley heaves with squat, colourful cubes. Niamh Donnelly and her husband, Gerard Claffey at Xochimilico Later that day, we take an Uber to the main square, Plaza de la Constitución. An enormous Mexican flag – possibly the biggest flag I've ever seen – floats majestically in the thin air. This is the square you see on postcards and in promotional images, home to the national palace and the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. All around, people fly kites. At the flag's base, a man lies sleeping. We walk down a busy street, where shops sell wedding dresses, suits and sunglasses, and street vendors display plastic cups lined with red powdery substance we will later learn is for micheladas , a drink that mixes beer with sweet syrup. In Mexico, if it can be made sweeter, it will. An impromptu mariachi dance party takes place to one side. A motorcycle tears down the road carrying a rottweiler. The Palacio de Bellas Artes, with its iconic yellow-orange dome, stands gallantly on Avenida Juárez. Several Diego Rivera murals are displayed inside, but it being Monday, the place is closed. Across the way, Edificio la Nacional, one of several art deco buildings in the city, looks practically quaint compared to the high rises that proliferate. When it was built in 1932, it was the city's first skyscraper. The Alameda central park and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Photograph: Getty Images Frida Kahlo's bedroom at her home in Mexico City, which is now a museum. Photograph: Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Five days, it becomes clear, is not nearly enough to take in this sprawling metropolis. Two things we decide are unmissable: the Frida Kahlo Museum (my choice) and Lucha Libre (my husband's). We manage to fit both into one jam-packed day. The Blue House, or Caza Azul, in which the renowned artist spent most of her life, has been preserved as a museum, integrating some of her best-known artworks. It is situated in the dreamy borough of Coyoacán, not far from the house in which Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, spent three years in political asylum. Both can be visited in the same morning – indeed this is an ideal way to get a picture of the pair's intersecting lives. (Kahlo hosted Trotsky in the Casa Azul when he first fled to Mexico. The pair are said to have had an affair while she was married to Rivera, and he to Natalya Sedova). Entrance to the Trotsky Museum is pay-on-arrival, at $40 MXN (€2), but for the Kahlo Museum, booking in advance is necessary. Tickets cost $320 MXN (€15) via . After a blissful morning entrenched in bohemian Mexico of the 1930s, we grab lunch at a nearby sports bar, then high tail it back to Roma Norte, where our Lucha Libre tour is meeting. For $1,500 (€70), we get tacos at a local taqueria; beer, mezcal, and pulque (a drink made from fermented sap of the maguey, or agave, plant) at a traditional cantina; a potted history of the sport; tickets to the event; and souvenir masks. The famous freestyle-wrestling spectacle is the most-watched sport in the country, after football and boxing. In the iconic Arena Mexico, servers walk around selling hot dogs, popcorn, drinks. Women in short red skirts and cropped white T-shirts dance as the equally objectified and scantily clad luchadors make their entrance. There are impressive acrobatics and outlandish storylines. Between fights, a kiss-cam appears on-screen. Everything is incredibly camp. The referee is a large man who can tumble exceptionally well, but never makes it to three when he counts to signal a pin fall. From the bleachers, we bleat chants and whistles we've been taught by our guide – the more vulgar the better, we've been told, and who are we to disagree. By the fifth day, we haven't seen nearly as much as we would like. In a toss-up between visiting the nearby city of Puebla, and taking a trip on traditional trajinera boats in the Unesco-listed neighbourhood of Xochimilco, the latter wins, ending up being the best activity yet. With a group of fellow tourists (all of which, bizarrely, are either from Ireland or have some connection to it), we float through an ancient Aztec canal system as our guide fills us with ghost stories and beer. We play games of loteria (bingo), make cocktails, sing karaoke. They say you don't drink shots of Mezcal, you kiss them. We kiss so many shots of Mezcal we almost miss our flight the next morning. Oaxacan street art Oaxaca de Juarez, a state capital with a population of around 700,000, turns out to be a completely different world to the one we've just left. For one, much of the city is walkable. And planning laws restrict the height of most buildings to two storeys and the colour palette to two colours, creating a charming, small-town effect. Known as Mexico's food capital, the city wears its culinary badge proudly. For breakfast, our B&B serves up chilaquiles verdes y rojos (tortilla chips softened in salsa), huevos zapotecos (scrambled eggs with cactus, tomato and onion, served with black beans and tortillas), and lots of salty, stringy Oaxacan cheese. On a free walking tour, our guide tells us about the region's 16 indigenous languages, and the various festivals it hosts throughout the year. On the most famous of these, Dia de Las Muertos (the day of the dead), the population swells with visitors as the city comes alive with parades. Activity revolves around the zócalo (main square), home to restaurants, markets, government buildings, shoe shiners. Bunches of balloons and children's toys are for sale on every corner. Day after day, dozens of protesters stand in remonstration over young people who went missing in suspicious circumstances. Demonstration is not unusual in this politically engaged city. Messages in support of Palestine, or against gentrification, are scrawled on walls everywhere. Hawkers tout bracelets with messages including F**k Trump, Dump Trump. On a separate, street-art tour, we learn about the activist messages in some of the murals. Others contain more whimsical, or mystical, meanings. La Catrina – the skeleton woman with the wide-brimmed hat – recurs, a symbol of the Mexican attitude towards death. So too does the xoloitzcuintli , a breed of hairless dog believed to be the guardian of the other world. If the living person has treated animals badly, our guide tells us, their soul will be refused entry to heaven. In the markets, rows of dead chickens hang naked for sale. You can eat a grasshopper, if you dare. The comida corrida (food corridor) at Mercado 20 de Noviembre, is a chance to sample a three-course offering of local cuisine for around $100 MXN (€4.50). The Hierve el Agua mineral pool Once again, we find ourselves with more to see than could ever fit into our itinerary. Hierve el Agua, one of only two petrified waterfalls in the world, seems a standout choice. The bus climbs and climbs, up the Sierra Madre Sur. From the car park, we hike into the valley, where we can touch the smooth travertine rock formation, then back up again, in sweltering 35 degree heat. At the summit, mineral pools sparkle tantalisingly at the edge of a cliff. Other tourists are already bathing, taking Insta-perfect photos. We strip to our swimsuits and lower ourselves in, then wade to the edge. Acres of green trees and fields stretch for miles below. Mountains stand resplendent in the Mexican sky. Birds of prey swirl hypnotically overhead. Our shoulders are burning, but we don't feel it, up here, on top of the world.
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Scientists date the oldest known tools made from whale bones to 20,000 years ago
NEW YORK — Scientists have pinpointed the oldest known evidence of humans making tools from whale bone. The bones, fashioned into narrow projectiles for hunting, had been uncovered in excavations dating back over a century in the Bay of Biscay near Spain and France. Scientists figured the tools were quite ancient , but many were small fragments so it was hard to determine their age.
