Daily Updates
Week Five: Oct. 21
21 October. Adam reporting: Today was day two out of two of our Pompeii presentations, and praise be we were given just enough sunlight to conduct our presentations uninterrupted by the torrential rainstorms we’ve seen the last few days. Cordelia spoke on the theatre complexes, Courtney on the Temple of Isis, Peter and I on the amphitheater and palestra, and Tori and Katherine on the two largest necropoli of the town. Yes, there were fewer presentations today than yesterday, but we were all definitely ready for the end of the day. Not so fast!!! We weren’t done just yet. We still had to see Herculaneum because Professor Ulrich’s backstage-pass-of-sorts ran out today. I for one was really quite impressed with the remains preserved there. In one house, there were actual remains of wood paneled doors that would have lined the back of the atrium. Having seen nothing but stone and tufa and mosaics for a week, wood was more exciting than sliced bread. I kid you not. And several of the houses still had well-preserved remains of their second stories, almost unheard of at Pompeii. It’s not large enough that we could all do interesting reports there as we’ve been doing at Pompeii, and that’s truly a shame. And so the day concluded… Hey! Where do you think you’re going? We still have dinner to go to as a group, kiddo! Yes, that’s right. Tonight dinner was on the College. We went to a nice little pizza place where we had our choice of pizza, vegetable, and *ahem* beverage. I never really thought I’d see the day where our group could become so freely…um…happy together. Gotta love that beverage. Quote of the day: A tourist approached Tori during her presentation today and asked, “Excuse me, teacher. But can you tell me where the petrified people are?” (Yes, Karen did write that this happened yesterday, but she’s a liar. Never trust Karen.)
21 October. A stuccoed ceiling from the Forum baths of Pompeii
21 October. Admiring the Forum baths
21 October. A telamon, part of the bath decoration
21 October. Original letters on the giant marble basin, "Labrum"
21 October. Cordelia presnts the theater of Pompeii
21 October. Cordelia presents the Odeon
21 October. Courtney presents the Temple of Isis
21 October. Stuccoed relief from the Temple of Isis
21 October. The Temple of Isis and our happy dog, Bepe
21 October. Bepe, the smartest dog in Pompeii, getting a Dartmouth education free of charge
21 October. Courtney in the Temple of Isis complex
21 October. Adam and Peter present the amphitheater
21 October. An inscription acknowledging those who dedicated the amphitheater
21 October. The palestra, across from the amphitheater
21 October. Peter and Adam continue their presentation
21 October. The gardens from the house of Quintus Quartio
21 October. Katherine and Tori present the necropoli of Pompeii
21 October. Tori
21 October. A freedmen's tomb
21 October. A nice cross section of the pumice, below, and ash, above, that archaeologists dug through to reach the buried city
21 October. Katherine presents the cemetary of the Porta Ercolano
21 October. Karen
21 October. Walking through the cemetary
21 October. Herculaneum as seen from above the site
21 October. Site dogs get lots of love from the students
21 October. Maya and her new friend
21 October. Floor mosaic with marine themes from the baths of Herculaneum
21 October. Interesting legs and feet of a marble bath bench
21 October. Preserved wooden loft and lattice work
21 October. Preserved wooden storage facility
21 October. A mosaic covered triclinium from a Herculanean house
21 October. A detail of the mosaic
21 October. The preserved second story of an atrium
21 October. The preserved second story of an atrium
21 October. A well preserved example of first style wall painting
21 October. Tufa and timber construction which survived the impact of volcanic mud in AD 79
21 October. Wood panel doors that would have separated the atrium from the tablinum
21 October. The group on the streets of Herculaneum
21 October. Original iron bars in the window
21 October. Mosaic tiled entrance and atrium: note the uneven floor levels due to the high temperatures of the volcanic mud
21 October. Enthusiastic students demonstrate how an ancient bar might have worked
21 October. A growing pomegranate
21 October. Looking down at the partially excavated palestra and swimming pool
21 October. A close up of the swimming pool
21 October. Skyscapes at Herculaneum
21 October. Skyscapes at Herculaneum
21 October. Skyscapes at Herculaneum
21 October. Skyscapes at Herculaneum