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=B. Summary of Evidence (500-600 words) Tips]=


 * Mount Vesuvias ||

On the 24th of August 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the two Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Since this infamous date, the mountain has erupted more than 50 times, and it was an eruption 1600 years later that workers accidently discovered the ruins of Pompeii. It was an eruption that buried the entire Roman town, leaving it dead and frozen in time until today. This horrific eruption offers brilliant insight into what life was really like during the Roman Empire. Pompeii is situated near the city of Naples, Italy and was buried under 4 to 6 metres of ash after Mount Vesuvius Erupted. Pompeii was a rich, cultural and busy city which was often seen as a holiday spot for the wealthier roman people. During the Roman Empire, the inhabitants weren’t aware what the volcano was capable of, which meant that they were not prepared for the eruption that would smother the city. It is considered one of the world’s oldest archaeological dig, with more than 2 thirds of the ash having been cleared, providing an excellent opportunity to look back into the past at the awful disaster which happened nearly 2 millennia ago. “//The people fled: some from the houses into the streets, others from outside into the houses, some from the sea to the land and some from the land to the sea, for in their panic they regarded any place where they were not as safer than where they were.”// – Dio Cassius, Roman History LXIV.22. The frozen archaeological site that the disaster left behind has offered historians a special insight into the past. One of the most interesting remains is the ‘Cellar of Skeletons’, which is a hidden cellar over 2,000 years old which has the remains of 54 people that tried to survive the eruption. All that is left are rotting skeletons; however the 54 people are divided into two sections. On the left hand side of the cellar are many skeletons with green coloured bones, which is actually due to metal and copper. This shows us that the wealthier, upper class people took their most prized possessions, including expensive jewellery and gold to seek shelter with them during the disaster. Where their possessions were held close to them it has dyed the bones a green, rusty colour. On the other side of the cellar however, their bones are left completely unharmed, showing us evidence that this was a group of lower-class citizens with no expensive possessions to take. The jewellery found in the cellar has been kept perfectly preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. The age, race and sex of the people have also been identified by forensic scientists from the remaining bones in the cellar, from which we can determine their wealth, social class and life-style.
 * Plaster-casts of the remaining bodies ||

nother interesting aspect that has been left behind is the Roman markings on the wall of the city. The graffiti on the walls was a huge part of Roman culture, adding humorous, sexual or beautiful phrases along the stone walls of Pompeii. The graffiti was very common, although it was not used in the same way as today. “//They were much nicer in their graffiti than we are,”// says Rebecca R. Benefiel, a classicist from Washington and Lee University. “//There are lots of pairings with the word ‘felicter,’ which means ‘happily.’ When you pair it with someone’s name, it means you’re hoping things go well for that person. There are lots of graffiti that say ‘Felicter Pompeii,’ wishing the whole town well.”// Here is one example of a piece of writing found on the walls of an atrium of a house of a Brothel “Blondie has taught me to hate dark-haired girls. I shall hat them, if I can, but I wouldn’t mind loving them. Pompeian Venus Fisica wrote this.” This is a perfect example of the humorous, sexual comments which appear, along with the phallic symbols, dotted all along the walls of Pompeii. This shows us to what extent Pompeii was swarming with rich cultural art and expression.