My weekend in Pompeii was so exciting to say the least. On Friday I had my first tour with a guide that was hired through USAC's field trip. USAC is the program that I'm studying abroad through. I was very intrigued to be there in person as I had previously studied archaeology before switching majors during the pandemic. To finally be at a site that I had only learned about in a classroom and in a museum was amazing. I gained more knowledge, asked more questions, and got even more knowledge through taking in artifacts, and asking questions to hopefully put more pieces together to solve smaller mystery's inside a large archaeological puzzle. On Saturday I went back but this time I made sure to book a guide who was an expert: an actual Pompeii excavation archaeologist. I learned so much more than I ever did sitting in a classroom. I was almost certain that the guide caught on to the fact that I had studied archaeology because of how I was observing artifacts, and by the extremely detailed questions I was asking. As any good archaeology person knows you should make sure to examen every detail very closely when it comes to artifacts, and ask detailed questions. By doing so both archaeologists, and historians hope that it will help to bring to light more details to an archaeological story and timeline.
What gave me the most perspective of all were two key moments: our guide showing us just how close the volcano Vesuvius is to the site, and seeing the volcanic stone casts of the Vesuvius victims. It showed me that in 79AD people really didn't understand that there was something very dangerous looming right in their backyard. They didn't have the words or the geologic knowledge that we do nowadays. They didn't have emergency safety plans, or evacuation routes. It was somber yet humbling to see the effects of natures truly violent destructive ways but also what can come out the destruction in the future and how we as a society nowadays can do to help to prevent more loss of life, but also to have a better historical understanding of past civilizations.
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