January 5th, 2014
Longley
Archaeological Project
Mount Vesuvius: Pompeii On August 24, in the year 79 A.D., the Vesuvius volcano erupted suddenly in southern Italy. Rock and ash covered the urbanized city of 25,000: Pompeii. The Roman colony was just recovering from a bad earthquake in 62 A.D. Mount Vesuvius had erupted more than 50 times before. 25 hours of pumice, rock, and ash being pumped out of the volcano and onto the vulnerable, unknowing town of Pompeii. About 2,000 people were killed in this eruption. The dust “poured across the land” like a flood one witness wrote. Little did they know an even more powerful eruption would occur the next day, on August 25th. This more intense eruption killed anything in …show more content…
It is the only active volcano in Europe’s mainland. The volcano is very dangerous because of the large population of people in the city below it. It is classified as a complex stratovolcano because it explodes and had pyroclastic flows, which means it consists of rock pieces. It had some major eruptions for example: the “Avellino eruption” that occurred in about 1780 B.C.. Lava, ash, and rocks plummeted 22 miles into the sky. The prehistoric catastrophe completely destroyed everything. Almost every house, village, and farm within 15 miles of the Mountain was gone in the blink of an eye. However the attraction never came to a halt, Pompeii grew even more …show more content…
Some people eventually drifted back to town searching for relatives and belongings, but sadly, mostly everything was gone forever. Most people when found, were in the same position as when they died because the way they died was by inhaling toxic gasses which killed them instantly. Another common way the people died was being burned by scorching hot lava. Once the concrete and rock settled and dried in the ground, bodies of humans and animals, and scraps of whatever was left over began to fossilize. Because the ash hardened so quickly, the Roman city was preserved pretty well. Pompeii and neighboring towns were abandoned for centuries. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius was a truly traumatic experience for everyone that had to endure its horrible effects. Put yourself into the people of that area’s position. Imagine how terrified you would be. Just the mere thought sends shivers throughout my body. Roman civilization was impacted greatly by this unplanned event in