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1835
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Giacomo Leopardi, considered by the Italians to be their greatest 19th-century poet, calls on the Bourbons of Naples to exhume the Villa dei Papiri for its documents.
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1838
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Queen Victoria visits Pompeii, where a 'prepared' dig is arranged for her.
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1860-4
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Garibaldi and his Redshirts liberate and unify Italy. The new
leader makes his friend Alexandre Dumas, the French author of
The Three Musketeers, director of the museum and excavations
at Pompeii. The Neapolitans object to this foreigner, rumours
circulate about public money being wasted on orgies at the Palazzo
and a mob demands he go. However, Dumas stays for four years,
cataloguing the 206 pieces of erotica in the museum's 'secret
cabinet'. Meanwhile, no fewer than 512 men are working at Pompeii.
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1865-75
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King Victor Emmanuel II appoints Giuseppe Fiorelli director of excavations. Fiorelli, previously inspector at Pompeii, had been imprisoned by the Bourbons, during which time he wrote a history of the ruined city. His appointment marks the beginning of systematic and scientific excavation at Pompeii. He establishes the first journal of the site's archaeology, and arranges for important buildings to be protected and for objects and paintings to remain in situ and not removed to Naples. Most importantly he devises the insulae system whereby the whole of Pompeii is divided into sections and the houses numbered. Today, he is chiefly remembered for having invented the method whereby the shapes of the dead of Pompeii, within shells of pumice powder and ash after their soft tissues and clothing had decayed, are filled with plaster of Paris and so revealed to the world.
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1869-75
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Victor Emmanuel visits Pompeii and is so pleased with Fiorelli's
work that he rewards him with 30,000 lire. Fiorelli decides to
use the money to reopen excavations at Herculaneum. However, progress
is slight, since digging has to be done through solidified mud,
not the light pumice stone of Pompeii. Work finally stops because
of the objections of Resina landlords, whose houses are threatened
with collapse.
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1903
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Charles Waldstein (later Sir Charles Walston), reader in classical archaeology at Cambridge, launches his project for an international organisation to fund the cost of excavating Herculaneum. He obtains the backing of Edward VII, who (it is planned) will, with the Italian government, secure the support of the world's richest men. Just as Waldstein approaches American millionaire J Pierpoint Morgan, the Italians - who feel that their prestige is being damaged - pull out of the scheme and the excavations are called off.
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1905-24
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The four styles of Pompeiian decoration are formulated, based
on the discoveries at the turn of the century.
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1910-24
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Under the aegis of director V Spinazzola, the Nuovi Scavi ('new excavations') are carried out at Pompeii. These cover the shop-lined Street of Abundance, the main thoroughfare, and all the buildings to the south.
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1924
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Amedeo Maiuri is appointed director. He institutes a policy of recreating the atmosphere of the interiors of Pompeii's buildings by leaving domestic utensils in situ and restoring walls and ceilings.
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1926
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Sir Charles Walston approaches Maiuri about excavating Herculaneum. This time his scheme works, but he dies before work begins. (His ashes are placed in an urn found in the city.)
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1927
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Excavations of Herculaneum begin. The aim is to restore the town as closely as possible to its original appearance.
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1938
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The House of the Bicentenary comes to light, the largest and richest
private dwelling in Herculaneum. In one of its rooms is found
what may be the mark of a cross. Also discovered are 18 wax tablets
- legal documents concerning a lawsuit involving one of the tenants
of the house, Gaius Petronius Stephanus.
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1963
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Amedeo Maiuri dies. Despite all his experience and passion for reconstruction, Pompeii is falling to pieces, overgrown with weeds and vines. Herculaneum is also suffering.
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1974
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A reconstruction of the Villa dei Papiri's large courtyard (peristyle) and garden is opened at the Getty Museum in Malibu, California.
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1980
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During work to improve the drainage system of Herculaneum's sub-urban baths, over 150 skeletons are found within the arches of the marina that was once on the shore. This find is extremely rare: first, because most Romans were cremated and, second, because few victims of the AD 79 disaster have been found in the town. Also found is a unique Roman boat. 23 November: an earthquake shakes the region. At Herculaneum and especially Pompeii, walls collapse, roofs crumble, structures become unsound and dangerous. Both sites are closed to the public, Pompeii for a considerable period.
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1981
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Dr Giuseppina Cerulli Irelli is appointed to a new position: superintendent of archaeology for both Pompeii and Herculaneum. She faces official indifference to the need for maintenance of both sites and security to preserve them.
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1983
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The Congress of Papyrology calls 'emphatically' for the excavation of the Villa dei Papiri.
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1985
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By now, all but 800 of the scrolls from the Villa dei Papiri have been deciphered.
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Today
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About a quarter of Pompeii's 163 aces and two-thirds of Herculaneum's 55 acres (an estimate since so much of the town still lies buried under Resina) remain to be revealed. In Pompeii, theft and vandalism continue and many houses are locked for their own protection.
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