"Bronze Age Pompeii" Discovered

FortKnox writes "Italian archaeologists that were selling rights to build an underground parking lot, north of Pompeii, have discovered an ancient village within it. This discovery is a village that is basically a snapshot of the bronze age. The city, which is north of Vesuvius, was given the name "Nola". One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola. Good stuff to find, and a good place to compare theory with proof."

Comments

A second Nola?

[MayorQ]

The city was not "given" the name Nola. It was found near present day Nola.

All you have to do is read the article...

- MayorQ

Re:Questions...

[HMC CS Major]

I'm guessing since they haven't found any remains (as of yet) the villagers must have known what was about to happen. I also wonder how big this city was in terms of population and influence.


From the article:

``For the first time we can see things about prehistoric life that we had only imagined,'' Vecchio said. ``People didn't have time to grab their things when they fled, so we can see what they ate, how they cooked, what social life was like.''

Explorations so far have revealed three huts up to 26 feet high, pots full of grains, sheep bones, a cage holding the bones of pregnant goats and hunting and cooking tools made from other bones.

So, apparently, they were given a small amount of warning, but not much. This is typical of the volcanos in the region, and in fact, most volcanos on earth: large, devastating eruptions typically follow a day or two of small earthquakes, accompanied by small eruptions and occasional small fissures opening in the ground. This provides a lot of warning for those in the immediate area: people know they need to escape, so they leave; they dont know how much time they have, so they tend to leave things behind. The result is that the city is left in near perfect condition (perfect being relative, obviously it was completely destroeyed), yet very few people seem to have been killed.

I'll politely ignore your second comment.

That's fast magma!

[MayorQ]

Having been to Nola and Pompeii, I would be quite amazed if they find bodies similar to those found in Pompeii. Nola is about 35-40 minutes away from Mt. Vesuvius by car (although your not travelling at 90kph all the time). I can only imagine that the citizens of Nola had enough time to flee to higher ground once they were away of the eruption. Pompeii, while not right at the base of the volcano, is much closer and it's a bit more understandable how people could be trapped in their homes.

Italy is quite amazing in that when ruins are found, they are generally left untouched. Rome is a great example of this in that there are vast ruins right in the downtown areas!! Imagine the businesses and contractors that were planning on building on those sites! Imagine the great many ruins hidden underneath all of the modern buildings! Yikes.

- MayorQ

Not selling rights

[zama]

In a lot of places, archaelogists have to do an examination before development can begin on a site. The article seems to be saying that it was a routine examination for the state, and not that they were selling the rights. "Vecchio discovered the village north of Vesuvius while doing routine tests to grant a company a license to build a shopping center and underground parking lot on the site."

No bodies...

[The Ape With No Name]

One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola

Remember at Pompeii there were no bodies found only cavities in the ash which archaeologists filled with plaster. Three things can be supposed by not finding bodies.

They had time to get away.

They were incinerated

Any dead left were cremated indicating that the dwellers were Indo-Europeans and not aboriginal Italians who usually buried their dead.


They found bodies at Herculaeneum, which is one of the few finds of Roman remains because Romans followed the funerial practices of their nomadic forebears -- cremation. At least, the patricians did so.

Hot Damn! That degree in Classical Studies pays off finally. I am waiting for my check.

Re:Bronze Life

[Cato the Elder]

Anonymous Coward wrote:
Of course, it could be a Celtic settlement in italy - after all, the Celts got as far as Rome before the roman empire got big, laying seige to it and holding the city to ransom, and only retreating when paid a cauldron full of gold - hence, by a long chain of imperfect associations, the irish leprechaun's pot of gold, and also leading to the famous quote "To the victor, the spoils.".

I reply:

Yes, but I'm pretty sure that was firmly in the iron age. According to this chronology
The Celtic tribes didn't arrive in Italy till 450 BC, over 1000 years after this settlement was buried.

Lava didn't hit Pompeii

[gopherdata]

Pompeii was buried by ash and pyroclastic flows. Lava (which is magma on the surface) didn't come anywhere close to Pompeii. The following website has a good account of the 79 AD eruption: http://urban.arch.virginia.edu/struct/pompeii/volc anic.html

Re:Atlantis

[Codifex Maximus]

I disagree. Most stories, myths, legends have at least SOME basis in fact.

Take for instance the Minotaur. People in Athens were conquered by the Minoans and forced to surrender young people for sacrifice. They were to fight the Minotaur - if they survived then they might return home.

The reality as we have ascertained it is... these young people were used as performers in a bull fighting ceremony where they leapt over the bull by placing hands on the bull's head and flipping over. Also, the maze of passages which we think is the labyrinth has been found.

The Homeric epics - The Troad and the Troadians. Troy has been found. We believe we have found Charybdis (sp?). We have found a civilization that follows closely on the culture that launched a thousand ships - Mycenae, Sparta, Athens, Achaia.

As for Atlantis, the legend was said to be ancient in the time of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. No doubt the story has been embellished and altered in the retelling. You can bet there is some truth in there somewhere.