The cities and villas buried by Vesuvius in AD 79 represent an archaeological heritage of unique importance. At the same time, they are subject in particularly acute form to the problems of conservation that afflict all such sites. The very features that make the little town of Herculaneum such a vivid evocation of the past – the survival of houses to several stories, and the astonishing preservation of organic matter like wood, cloth and papyrus – also render the site exceptionally difficult to preserve for future generations.

Aims

The overall aim of the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP) is to support the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei (SAP), to safeguard and conserve, to enhance, and to advance the knowledge, understanding and public appreciation of the ancient site of Herculaneum and its artefacts.

Its main objectives are:

• to slow down the rate of decay across the entire site so that it can be maintained in future on a sustainable basis;
• to test and implement long-term conservation strategies that are appropriate for Herculaneum and potentially applicable to other, similar sites;
• to provide a basis of knowledge and documentation of Herculaneum so as to facilitate its future management;
• to acquire new archaeological knowledge about Herculaneum derived as an integral element of the activities devoted to its preservation;
• to conserve, document, publish and improve access to the artefacts found in excavations at Herculaneum;
• to promote greater knowledge of and discussion about Herculaneum among the scientific community, the local population and the general public.

How did the Herculaneum Conservation Project come about?

The Herculaneum Conservation Project was conceived in the summer of 2000. After a visit to the site by Dr David W. Packard, President of the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) and Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Director of the British School at Rome (BSR), Dr Packard agreed with Prof. Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, the Archaeological Superintendent of Pompeii, that PHI and the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei (SAP) should explore a major collaborative project. Formalized by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2001, HCP was set up as a collaborative project with the principal objectives of conserving and enhancing the ancient city of Herculaneum.

Between 2001 and 2004 a team of consultants was brought together, and a series of studies were undertaken to understand the nature of the problems affecting the site. A segment of the site, the Insula Orientalis I, was identified for a detailed case study; and a series of interventions were undertaken by the Soprintendenza, financed by the project. In July 2004, the project gained new impetus thanks to new Italian legislation allowing private entities more direct involvement in heritage. The signing of a Sponsorship Agreement allowed the BSR, with the support of PHI, to undertake directly under its own management and at its own expense conservation work on the archaeological site controlled by the Italian State.

After the first five years of the project, it is envisaged that at least a further five years will be needed to address the most pressing problems, and leave the site more manageable for the future.

What does HCP do?

The project team identified and worked towards two principle aims in its first years of activity. The first was to slow down the decay that afflicts all parts of this site in a short timeframe, thanks to a major campaign of emergency works and maintenance activity headed by conservator-restorer Monica Martelli Castaldi and architect Paola Pesaresi. The site-wide mapping of the extent and nature of decay followed by the consolidation of collapsing structures, stabilisation of crumbling plaster surfaces and disintegrating mosaics, eradication of vegetation, reinstatement of functioning water collection and disposal systems, roofing repairs and substitution, and pigeon control represent the vital first steps in ensuring that the delicate ancient remains survive.

The other priority has been to embark on the development of a conservation strategy to safeguard the long-term survival of the site and enhance its value to all its users. This is being pursued in several ways: through the development of a strategy of continuous care within the site-wide campaign described above; through the commissioning of numerous studies to improve our understanding of the site (e.g. documenting the site, archive research, scientific research, archaeological and geological study and site investigation) and good information management to ensure that data is used; and through the commissioning of integrated pilot projects to experiment long-term conservation interventions, both a single case study project on one entire urban block (Insula Orientalis I) and numerous small experimental initiatives throughout the site.

In adopting the Insula Orientalis I as a case study, the project set itself exacting standards difficult to achieve under a normal public works programme. At the outset, archives research illuminated the restoration choices made by the original excavators in the 1930s. A detailed study of the standing remains revealed a group of structures in constant adaptation in antiquity – essential for understanding that Herculaneum in AD 79 was more complex than a single moment of time forever frozen – and it became quickly evident that the image of the past to preserve, as well as how best to preserve it, can only emerge from informed multidisciplinary debate. Preliminary site-works to stabilize the insula have been followed up by the erection of experimental roofing solutions to protect the more precious areas while more long-lasting solutions are prepared.

Conservation and new discoveries

While the central aim of the project is to conserve already excavated remains of the past for the future, it also aims thereby to advance our knowledge of the past. The minute attention to the fabric of the site, by a multidisciplinary team combining the skills of archaeology, architecture, surveying, conservation, engineering, and scientific analysis, means that the project is constantly generating new knowledge about the ancient city.

The first step has been to recover knowledge that was lost to sight. From the documentary and photographic archives has emerged much unpublished information about the original excavations, and the process of restoration that happened simultaneously, especially under the Superintendent Amedeo Maiuri. A major part of the project is to create a database, eventually accessible on the web, of all such information and documentation. At frequent points, consolidating and protecting the remains has also involved revealing partially excavated material. One conspicuous example is the latrine found on the second floor of the apartment block at Insula Orientalis II; this is the first time a well-preserved latrine has been found at this height above ground level, and it attests the sophistication of Roman waste-disposal systems.

In two cases, major new discoveries have flowed from projects designed to preserve the site. Clearing and stabilising the collapsing embankment above the north-west corner of the site not only revealed the layout of the buried Basilica Noniana, but exposed the marble head of an Amazon. The exceptional preservation of the paintwork on this statue head, including eyes and eyelashes, would not have been possible without the presence of a skilled team of conservators. Secondly, the need to provide for the effective drainage of the whole site led to the reopening of a major sewer beneath the Insula Orientalis II, which functioned as a cesspit for the entire block of flats and shops. The extensive preservation of waste material, including human refuse, gives an unparalleled opportunity to analyse Roman diet and disease.

The Herculaneum Conservation Project team

Preserving the past involves choices, often very difficult ones. It requires a multi-disciplinary collaboration of specialists: archaeologists, conservator-restorers, architects, engineers, scientists, a project manager and others.

The core team is made up of: Domenico Camardo, lead archaeologist; Paola Pesaresi, architect for the campaign of emergency works on structures; Gionata Rizzi, architect for the case study project; Monica Martelli Castaldi, conservator-restorer; Ascanio D’Andrea, information manager and Massimo Brizzi, archaeological surveyor. Their work is supported by chemist Giorgio Torraca working on analysis and conservation trials with conservator-restorer Alessandra De Vita; specialist engineers Ippolito Massari, Alessandro Massari and Giovanni Vercelli; along with other specialists who are involved for specific aspects. Keith Copper and Luca Petroni provide support for cost management and health and safety coordination of the site works.

The project is directed by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and guided by a Scientific Committee composed of leading Italian and international experts on Roman archaeology and conservation and headed by Superintendent Pietro Giovanni Guzzo.

The team of consultants and contractors are managed by the HCP Project Manager, Jane Thompson, in close collaboration with the Director of the Site of Herculaneum, Maria Paola Guidobaldi and SAP architects Valerio Papaccio and Maria Pirozzi.

With site operations having gained substantial momentum in the period 2004-2006 the project is beginning to dedicate more resources to sharing project results and involving wider interest groups in the project, starting first and foremost with the local community, a programme led by the HCP Research & Outreach Coordinator, Sarah Court.

What next?

The first five years of the project have demonstrated how formidable are the challenges confronting the site, have done much towards analysing and understanding them, and have begun to explore models of how to address them. The most important challenges HCP now faces, that of establishing basic infrastructure for the ancient city (drains, protective shelters, site access for works, etc.) and evolving successful models of continuous care to guarantee the site’s long-term survival. They must be sustainable strategies for the public arm of the project to take forward after the private partner has gone since it was, after all, the failure of such routine maintenance programmes that led to the state of neglect that the site found itself in the 1990s. The project also attaches importance to the artefacts found in the excavations of the site, from the earliest explorations in the eighteenth century onwards, by identifying, cataloguing, conserving and make these artefacts accessible to the public. The project foresees new exploration where this will help to make the site more manageable for the future, particularly in the area of the north-west corner, close to the ancient Forum, where the precipitous escarpments are not safe or sustainable. Finally, the project hopes to help address the problems of the boundaries of the site, where buildings of the modern town overhang the excavations.

For further information:
hcp@herculaneum.org (+39) 06/3264939

www.herculaneum.org
www.pompeiisites.org
www.packhum.org
www.bsr.ac.uk