Abstract Among the glass finds of the Pompeii excavations, numerous objects of opaque and transparent glassy material of different colours were recovered and classified as game counters. The main aims of this work were to characterize these samples so as to identify the materials used as colorants and opacifying agents, and subsequently to deduce the technology used for their production. The results of the chemical and mineralogical analyses obtained for game counters were also compared with those obtained for transparent and opaque glass artefacts. The chemical analyses were carried out, using only 300 mg of sample, by both wavelength-dispersive electron microprobe and X-ray fluorescence analysis. The crystalline phases present in the opaque glass were identified using both an automatic X-ray powder diffractometer and a Gandolfi camera. Secondary and backscattered electron images were obtained to study the distribution and morphology of the opacifier particles, and qualitative chemical analyses were obtained with an energy-dispersive system. All the game counters analysed can be classified as silica–soda–lime glass. Two calcium antimonates (CaSb 2 O 6 and Ca 2 Sb 2 O 7 ) were identified in the opaque white, green and blue glass, and Pb 2 Sb 2 O 7 particles were detected in the opaque yellow glass. Particles of metallic copper were detected by both energy-dispersive system and X-ray powder diffraction. These results support the hypothesis that transparent game counters were obtained by remelting of fragments of common transparent artefacts. In contrast, opaque finds were probably produced using the glassy paste employed in the production of mosaic tesserae.

Abstract The increasing degradation of archaeological evidence in the circumvesuvian area requires a suitable and exhaustive census of all the archaeological features of the area that are accessible now or that have come to light at some time in the past. The high population density of the area demands a conservation policy based on appropriately planned prevention, rather than on occasional intervention with the criterion of ‘saving what can be saved’. Here we present a geographical information system (GIS) of the archaeological data in their territorial environment for the circumvesuvian area, with the aim of providing a useful tool for archaeological feature management. The database includes the following: (1) Current information on the circumvesuvian area (18 council districts with a total area coverage of about 250 km 2 ). The database consists mainly of vector data at the original scale of 1: 5000 (although raster images are also included), and it is updated to the period 1988 1995, depending on the zone. The digital information includes natural and man-made features: roads, buildings, railways, spot heights, etc. (2) Archaeological sites. The ‘objects’ are organized in three main ‘layers': areas with building constraints, buried elements (of uncertain and certain location), visible constructions (e.g. aqueduct, amphitheatre, honorary arch, forum, harbour structures, theatre, temple, roads, villas, etc.). The census is at present under development. To date, about 300 structures have been included in the GIS in the area of interest.

Abstract Volcanological studies in the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri (Santorini, Greece) and in the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum (Vesuvius, Italy) have provided information about the precursory phenomena preceding the Minoan and AD 79 Plinian eruptions and the impact of the eruptive products on the human settlements. The Akrotiri settlement was badly damaged by earthquakes before the onset of the eruption. A building debris layer, related to these earthquakes, covers the Minoan soil. The fallout pumice bed, mantling the ruins, freezes a state of partial destruction of the settlement. The deposition of the following pyroclastic flows completed the covering of the site. Strong seismicity also occurred during the opening and the Plinian phases. At the Herculaneum and Pompeii excavations clear evidence of strong pre- and syn-eruptive earthquakes is absent. Herculaneum, just 7 km west of the crater of Vesuvius, was destroyed by several pyroclastic flows, which buried the town under 20 m of deposits. Pompeii was covered by a 3 m thick blanket of pumice fall deposit. Distal dilute and turbulent ash clouds reached the town toward the end of the Plinian phase, killing all remaining inhabitants. The following turbulent cloud related to the onset of the caldera collapse completely destroyed the town, which was successively covered by the final phreatomagmatic products of the eruption.

The destruction of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the villas in the surrounding area by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 preserved a unique body of information about flora and fauna, such as is available at no other ancient site. Root cavities can be emptied of lapilli and casts made of roots that were growing at the time of the eruption. Planting patterns also help to identify the plants raised. Soil contours, which vary according to the crop, are preserved by the lapilli just as they were in A.D. 79. Carbonized, or partially carbonized fruit, nuts, vegetables, root material, branches, and twigs are at times preserved. Ancient pollen also furnishes valuable evidence. The bones of mammals and the shells of mollusks and echinoderms are often found, as well as a few bird bones. Paintings preserve the actual appearance of the ancient plants, mammals, birds, and marine animals. Unfortunately, much of this evidence has been lost, for until recently excavators have not been interested in such finds. Today scientific garden archaeology carefully salvages all such evidence. The excavated evidence is then studied, together with the comments of the ancient writers and in the light of modern practices, which strikingly continue those of antiquity. Many scientists, in diverse disciplines, have cooperated in identifying and interpreting this valuable evidence. This chapter briefly reports the excavation of six different types of sites, three at Pompeii and three at nearby villas, and discusses specific examples of the various types of evidence of flora and fauna preserved by Vesuvius at these sites.

Abstract The temperature of the deposits ( T dep ) emplaced by the pyroclastic density current (PDC) generated by the seven major explosive eruptions from Somma–Vesuvius during the last 22 kyr were investigated using the thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) of lithic clasts embedded within the deposits. New data are presented for the Pomici di Base, Greenish Pumice, Mercato and 1631 AD deposits and compared to the literature data from the Avellino, 79 AD-Pompeii and 472 AD-Pollena eruptions. The T dep mainly fall in the range 270–370 °C and no significant correlation is evidenced between sedimentological features, eruptive and depositional processes and the final T dep . The admixture of ambient air during the run-out appears the most effective process to cool the temperature of the ash and gases of the PDC, and is therefore the main factor affecting the deposit temperature.