Archaeologists in race against time to preserve memories of Pompeii

Archaeologists in race against time to preserve memories of Pompeii

Time and tourism are exacting a heavy toll on towns buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, so archaeologists are racing to record as much as they can, Professor Frank Sear says.

Professor Sear, a specialist in Roman architecture who is part of an Australian team of archaeologists recording and studying the houses of Pompeii, will give a free public lecture on The Rediscovery of Pompeii at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus on Friday, May 7, beginning at 8pm.

"Excavation of Pompeii started in the 18th Century, but even after 250 years we know very little about its archaeological nature," he said. "Until recently, there had never been a systematic study of the site's wall paintings, mosaics, sculptures, stucco decorations or architecture.

"Time is running out because the effects of wind, rain and sun, rising damp, atmospheric pollution and an annual influx of around one million tourists are causing the site to visibly deteriorate."

Professor Sear is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Melbourne's School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archaeology. With colleagues from his own University and the University of Sydney, he is part of an Australian team contributing to an international effort to preserve as much as possible of Pompeii's archaeological record.

"We spend three or four weeks at the site each year, documenting a single house - architectural features, painted decoration, mosaics, scupltures, inscriptions ? even the graffiti. With these written records, photographs and drawings there'll at least be a record of what was there before it all disappeared," he said.

His team has completed fieldwork and is now at the publication stage.

Professor Sear's lecture will launch the Sixth Annual Ancient History Conference organised by the University of Queensland's Classics and Ancient History Department in conjunction with the Friends of Antiquity.

The conference on Saturday, May 8, will run from 9am to 4pm. Speakers will be:
* Associate Professor Brian James, Evil Emperors;
* Keynote address - Professor Sear, The Theatre of Pompey and its Antecedents;
* Associate Professor Dorothy Watts, The Old Enemy? Rome and Carthage;
* Dr John Whitehorne, Rome and Egypt; and
* Professor Bob Milns, Roman Emperors as Authors.

For more information, contact Professor Sear (telephone work 03 9344 5565) or Lesley Burnett (Classics and Ancient History Department, telephone 07 3365 2643).