When people go to Herculaneum, they can walk along the beach just like the people who lived there before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79 and destroyed the town. Careful work to protect the environment has brought the beach back to the amount of sand that was there two thousand years ago. "Almost as it was before the eruption," says the Guardian. More than 300 people's bones were found in the wreckage of boat sheds on the beach, where they would have waited to be saved by the sea. People found the body of one guy in 2021. He had probably died of vaporization just a few steps from the shore, which is now several hundred yards away from where it would have been 2,000 years ago.
"If we look toward where the sea used to be, we become modern explorers of the huge blanket of volcanic flow that covered the city in just a few hours," said Francesco Sirano, who runs the historical park in southern Italy. "We almost feel the same sense of total destruction." Once again found in the early 1700s, Herculaneum had an even worse fate than nearby Pompeii, which is more famous. The Guardian says that while Pompeii was buried under about 10 feet of ash, Herculaneum was caught in a pyroclastic surge, which is a fast-moving current of hot gas and other matter with temperatures between 750 and 932 degrees Fahrenheit. It was then buried under about 65 feet of volcanic mud, which kept food and other organic items safe.
The victims of Herculaneum were "found in a similar condition to those of Hiroshima," researcher Domenico Camardo told the news source in 2021. "You really get a sense of the horror and tragedy." Scientists found more than just human remains. They also found "the passage of pyroclastic flows that hit the city in 79AD with materials of all kinds," Sirano told CNN. The beach finally opened to the public on Wednesday, after years of work. He said it was "a remarkable and unique spot in the world." CNN reports that Italy's Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who was at the event, said that new finds are likely to be made in the area because of all the building going on.
"If we look toward where the sea used to be, we become modern explorers of the huge blanket of volcanic flow that covered the city in just a few hours," said Francesco Sirano, who runs the historical park in southern Italy. "We almost feel the same sense of total destruction." Once again found in the early 1700s, Herculaneum had an even worse fate than nearby Pompeii, which is more famous. The Guardian says that while Pompeii was buried under about 10 feet of ash, Herculaneum was caught in a pyroclastic surge, which is a fast-moving current of hot gas and other matter with temperatures between 750 and 932 degrees Fahrenheit. It was then buried under about 65 feet of volcanic mud, which kept food and other organic items safe.
The victims of Herculaneum were "found in a similar condition to those of Hiroshima," researcher Domenico Camardo told the news source in 2021. "You really get a sense of the horror and tragedy." Scientists found more than just human remains. They also found "the passage of pyroclastic flows that hit the city in 79AD with materials of all kinds," Sirano told CNN. The beach finally opened to the public on Wednesday, after years of work. He said it was "a remarkable and unique spot in the world." CNN reports that Italy's Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who was at the event, said that new finds are likely to be made in the area because of all the building going on.
