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4 Context of a mass disaster

1 R. Ascher, ‘Analogy in archaeological interpretation’,
SouthWestern Journal of Anthropology,
Vol. 17, 1961, 324; L.R. Binford, ‘Behavioural archaeology and the “Pompeii Premise” in archaeology’,
Journal of Anthropological Research,
Vol. 37, 1981: 195–208; but also see M.B. Schiffer,
Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record
. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico, 1987, 237; M.B. Schiffer, ‘Is there a “Pompeii Premise” in archaeology?’,
Journal of Anthropological Research
, Vol. 41, 1985, 18–41. The concept of the ‘Pompeii Premise’ can be traced back to Ascher, an archaeologist who had never worked on the sites destroyed by the
AD
79 eruption and did not appreciate their complexity and who apparently only had limited contact with the academic literature on Pompeii. This is also the case for the other proponents of the Pompeii Premise. This is suggested by the bibliographies of Binford, 1981, op. cit., 207–8; and Schiffer, 1985, op. cit. 39–41.

2 This skeleton was found on 19 April 1748. E.C.C. Corti,
The Destruction and Resurrection of Pompeii and Herculaneum
. Translated by K. Smith and R.G. Smith. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951, 117.

3 E.C.C. Corti,
The Destruction and Resurrection of Pompeii and Herculaneum
. Trans. K. Smith and R.G. Smith. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951, 135–36; M. Grant,
Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum
. Middlesex: Penguin, 1976, 31.

4 In one passage she describes the site as a re flection of the last moments of the town. De Staël in W. Leppmann,
Pompeii in Fact and Fiction
. London: Elek, 1968, 106.
5 For example, P.M. Allison, ‘Artefact assemblages: Not the “Pompeii Premise”’,in
Papers of the Fourth Conference of Italian Archaeology, University of London, 1990
, ed. E. Herring, R. Whitehouse and J. Wilkins. London: Accordia Research Centre, 1992a, 49; P.M. Allison,
Pompeian Households: An Analysis of the Material Culture
, Monograph 42. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute for Archaeology, University of California, 2004, 4; A.E. Cooley,
Pompeii
. London: Duckworth, 2003, 13.
6 For example, J.W. Alexander, ‘The impact of discoveries’,in
The Buried Cities and the Eruption of Vesuvius: The 1900th Anniversary
, ed. H.W. Benario and G.W. Lawall. Amherst: NECN & University of Massachusetts, 1979, 26; W. Jongman, P.W. De Neeve and H.W. Pleket (eds),
The Economy and Society of Pompeii
. Vol. 4, Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieber, 1988, 55–56.
7 J.-P. Descœudres, ‘Rome and Roman art’,in
The Enduring Past: Archaeology of the Ancient World for Australians
, ed. A. Cremin. Sydney: NSW University Press, 1987, 174.
8 Seneca, ‘Naturales Quaestiones’,in
Loeb Classical Library
. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1972, VI, 1.1–3, 10; VI.27.1,VI.31.
9 Tacitus, ‘Annals of Imperial Rome’. Trans. B. Radice and R. Baldick. Middlesex: Penguin, 1971, 22.
10 P.M. Allison, ‘The Distribution of Pompeiian House Contents and its Significance. Vols. I and II’, unpublished PhD thesis, School of Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History. Sydney: University of Sydney, 1992b, 5; P.M. Allison,
Pompeian Households: An Analysis of the Material Culture
, Monograph 42. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute for Archaeology, University of California, 2004, 17–18; J. Andreau, ‘Il terremoto del 62’,in
Pompei 79: Raccolta di Studi per il Decimonono Centenario dell

Eruzione Vesuviana
, ed. F. Zevi. Napoli: Gaetano Macchiaroli, 1979, 40; H.W. Benario, ‘The land, the cities, the event’,in
The Buried Cities and the Eruption of Vesuvius: The 1900th Anniversary
, ed. Benario, H.W. and G.W. Lawall,
Lectures presented at Emory University on May 7, 1979 in a symposium sponsored by the Dept. of Modern Languages and Classics, Alpha Sigma chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, and the Atlanta Society of the Archaeological Institute of America
. Amherst: NECN & University of Massachusetts, 1979, 3; A.E. Cooley,
Pompeii
. London: Duckworth, 2003, 127, note 4; L. Richardson,
Pompeii: An Architectural History
. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988, xxi, 18. The discrepancy is the result of the different consular dates given by Seneca, op. cit., 6, 1, 2; and Tacitus, op. cit., 15, 22. The event was dated to
AD
63 by Seneca and
AD
62 by Tacitus. The
AD
62 date is now most commonly accepted by scholars. 11 Allison, op. cit. 1992b, 8–9; Andreau, 1979, op. cit., 40–44; M. Brion,
Pompeii and Herculaneum: The Glory and the Grief
. London: Cardinal, 1973/1960, 21–24; Corti, 1951, op. cit., 44–45, 48; Corti, 1951, op. cit., 44–45, 48; J.-P. Descœudres, ‘A brief history of Pompeii’,in
Pompeii Revisited: The Life and Death of a Roman Town
, ed. D. Harrison. Sydney: Meditarch, 1994a, 34–37; L. Richardson, ‘Life as it appeared when Vesuvius engulfed Pompeii’,
Smithsonian
, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1978, 84, 86; L. Richardson,
Pompeii: An Architectural History
. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988, xxi–xxii, 18–22. 12 CIL X 846 = ILS 6367. For the full inscription see A.E. Cooley and M.G.L. Cooley.
Pompeii: A Sourcebook
. London: Routledge, 2004, 31.
13 For an illustration, see Cooley and Cooley, 2004. op. cit., 30.
14 Allison, 1992b, 86–97; P.M. Allison, ‘On-going seismic activity and its effects on the living conditions in Pompeii in the last decades’,in
La Regione Vesuviana dal 62 al 79 d. C.: Problemi Archeologici e Sismologici
, ed. Frölich, T. and L. Jacobelli. Munich: 1995, 162– 69; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 17–19; Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 23; E. De Carolis, and G. Patricelli.
Vesuvius,
AD
79: The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum
. Translated by The J. Paul Getty Trust. Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 2003b, 71–76; J.-P. Descœudres, ‘Did some Pompeians return to their city after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in
AD
79? Observations in the house of the coloured capitals,’ in
Ercolano 1738

1988: 250 Anni di Ricerca Archeologica
, ed. L.F. Dell’Orto. Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 1993, 173; Descoeudres, op. cit., 1994a, 35.
15 For example by Allison, 1992a, op. cit., Allison, 1995, op. cit.
16 Seneca, op. cit., VI,12.
17 Suetonius, ‘The Twelve Caesars.’ Middlesex: Penguin, 1957, Nero, 20.
18 Seneca, op. cit., XV, 34:1.
19 Pliny the Younger, ‘Letters and Panegyrics’,in
Loeb Classical Library
. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1969, VI, 20.
20 See, for example, Allison, 2004, op. cit., 17–19; Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 23–25. 21 For example R.J. Blong,
Volcanic Hazards: A Sourcebook on the Effects of Eruptions
. Sydney: Academic Press, 1984, 189; F.M. Bullard,
Volcanoes of the Earth
. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984, 190; P. Francis,
Volcanoes: A Planetary Perspective
. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, 65, 67; H. Sigurdsson, and S.N. Carey, ‘The eruption of Vesuvius in
AD
79’, in
The Natural History of Pompeii
, ed. W.F. Jashemski, and F.G. Meyer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 33–34.
22 Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 10; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 17; K. Schefold,
Die Wände Pompejis
. Berlin: Topographisches Verzeichnis der Bildemotive, 1957, 152.
23 Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 86–97; Allison, 1995, op. cit., 162–69; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 16–19. Other studies that provide convincing evidence of repairs resulting from continued seismic events between
AD
62 and 79 are summarized by Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 23. 24 De Carolis and Patricelli, 2003b, op. cit., 75–76 also conclude that the archaeological record supports the notion of a series of earthquakes between
AD
62 and 79. 25 Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 86, Allison, 1995, op. cit., 162; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 201–3. 26 D.K. Grayson and P.D. Sheets, ‘Volcanic disasters and the archaeological record’,in
Volcanic Activity and Human Ecology
, ed. P.D. Sheets and D.K. Grayson. New York: Academic Press, 1979, 626–27.
27 Though see Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 97; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 202–3. 28 M. Biddle, ‘The archaeology of Winchester’,
Scienti
fi
cAmerican,
Vol. 230, No. 5, 1974: 35–43. 29 Seneca, op. cit., VI, I, 10–12.
30 Leppmann, 1968, op. cit., 73.
31 Lippi and Tondi in P. Ciprotti, ‘Der letzte tag von Pompeji’,
Altertum,
Vol. 10, 1964, 40. 32 For example, Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 97; Allison, 2004, op. cit., 20; Corti, 1951, op. cit., 46–47; A. Maiuri,
La Casa del Menandro e il Suo Tesoro di Argenteria
. Roma: La Libreria dello Stato, 1933, 11–16.
33 For example, by Corti, 1951, op. cit., 82–83; Richardson, 1988, op. cit., 25–27. 34 For example, Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 97; Descœudres, 1993, op. cit., 173. Though for an alternative view see Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 34.
35 Maggi in R. Gore, ‘After 2000 years of silence: The dead do tell tales at Vesuvius’,
National Geographic,
Vol. 165, No. 5, 1984: 570.
36 Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 25–35; J.J. Dobbins, ‘Problems of chronology, decoration and urban design in the forum at Pompeii’,
American Journal of Archaeology,
Vol. 98, 1994, 629–94; J.J. Dobbins, ‘The Pompeii Forum Project 1994–95’,in
Sequence and Space in Pompeii
, ed. S.E. Bon and R. Jones. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 77, 1997, 86. Though Allison, 2004, op. cit., 21 argues that the evidence is complex and conflicting and that further investigation is required before conclusions can be drawn.
37 De Carolis and Patricelli, 2003b, op. cit., 76.
38 For W. Engelmann,
New Guide to Pompeii
. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1925, 2; R. Etienne,
Pompeii: The Day a City Died
. Translated by C. Palmer. London: Thames & Hudson, 1992, 44. 39 Strabo, op. cit. (V, iv, 8).
40 P. Carafa, ‘Recent work on early Pompeii’,in
The World of Pompeii
, ed. J.J. Dobbins and P.W. Foss. London: Routledge, 2007, 63–72; W. Engelmann,
New Guide to Pompeii
. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1925, 2; W.F. Jashemski,
The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius
. New York: Caratzas Brothers, 1979a, 4; J.B. Ward-Perkins and A. Claridge.
Pompeii
AD
79: Treasures from the National Archaeological Museum, Naples and the Pompeii Antiquarium, Italy
. 2nd edn. Sydney: Australian Gallery Directors’ Council, 1980, 11.
41 J.A.K. De Waele, ‘The “doric” temple in the Forum Triangulare’,in
Pompeii, Opuscula Pompeiana, III
(1993), 112; Engelmann, 1925, op. cit., 2; Etienne, 1992, op. cit., 44; Grant, 1976, op. cit., 15, 17.
42 De Waele, 1993, op. cit., 108–13.
43 Brion, 1973, op. cit., 11–17; Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 17–19.; Cooley and Cooley, 2004, op. cit., 17; Engelmann, 1925, op. cit., 2–3; Etienne, 1992, op. cit., 44, 48–49; Grant, 1976, op. cit., 15, 17, 20, 22–23; Jashemski, 1979a, op. cit., 4; P. Wilkinson,
Pompeii: The Last Day
. London: BBC Books, 2003, 8–14.
44 For example, by A. Maiuri,
Pompeii: The New Excavations, the Villa dei Misteri, the Antiquarium
. Translated by Priestley, V. 7th ed. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1962, 17; A. Mau,
Pompeii: Its Life and Art
. Translated by F.W. Kelsey, 1907 edn. London: Macmillan, 1907, 16; G. Nicolucci, ‘Crania Pompeiana: Descrizione de’ crani umani rinvenuti fra le ruine dell’ antica Pompei’,
Atti della R. Accademia delle Scienze Fisiche e Matematiche,
Vol. 9, No. 10, 1882, 3–5,21–23.
45 C. Giordano, and I. Kahn.
The Jews in Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and in the Cities of Campania Felix
. Napoli: Procaccini, 1979, 44; Mau, 1907, op. cit., 16–18; Ward-Perkins and Claridge, 1980, op. cit., 15, 33.
46 For example, by Corti 1951, op. cit., 208.
47 Mau, 1907, op. cit., 18.
48 Naples Museum 73879 from house (VIII, vi, 6).
49 Giordano and Kahn, 1979, op. cit., 56–58, 60–70; Mau, 1907, op. cit., 17; V. Tran Tam Tinh,
Essai sur le Culte d

Isis à Pompei
. Paris: de Boccard, 1964; R.E. Witt,
Isis in the Graeco-Roman World
. London: Thames & Hudson, 1971.
50 Allison, 1992b, op. cit., 97; P.M. Allison, ‘Recurring tremors: The continuing impact of the
AD
79 eruption of Mt Vesuvius’,in
Natural Disasters and Cultural Change
, ed. R. Torrence and J. Gratton. London: Routledge, 2002, 112; Corti, 1951, op. cit., 48, 204; Descœudres, 1994a, op. cit., 36; Maiuri, 1933, op. cit., 11–16.
51 Corti, 1951, op. cit., 52; M. Della Corte,
Casa ed Abitanti di Pompei
. 3rd edn. Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino, 1965, 67–71; Richardson, 1988, op. cit., 324; R. Trevelyan,
The Shadow of Vesuvius: Pompeii
AD
79
. London: Michael Joseph, 1976, 17.
52 Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 27. For a detailed consideration of whether the site was abandoned by certain sections of the population, see Cooley, 2003, op. cit., 25–35. 53 Corti, 1951, op. cit., 54; Descœudres, 1994, op. cit., 36.
54 E. Lazer, ‘Pompeii
AD
79: A population in flux?’,in
Sequence and Space in Pompeii
, ed. S.E. Bon and R. Jones. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 77, 1997a, 102–20.
55 Jashemski, 1979a, op. cit., 343, n. 56; W. Jongman, P.W. De Neeve and H.W. Pleket, (eds),
The Economy and Society of Pompeii
. Vol. 4, Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieber, 1988; 55, 108–12; J.C. Russell,
The Control of Late Ancient and Medieval Population
. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1985, 1–4; A. Wallace-Hadrill, ‘Houses and households: Sampling Pompeii and Herculaneum’,in
Marriage, Divorce and Children in Ancient Rome
, ed. B. Rawson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, 191–202; A. Wallace-Hadrill,
Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum
. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994, 95–98. 56 G. Fiorelli,
Gli Scavi di Pompei dal 1861 al 1872
. Napoli: Tipografica nel Liceo V. Emmanuele, 1873, 14; E. La Rocca, M. De Vos and A. De Vos.
Guida Archeologica di Pompei
. 1st edn. Verona, Italy: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1976, 21; Russell, 1985, op. cit., 1. 57 Fiorelli, 1873, op. cit., App. 3, 14; S. Pheasant,
Bodyspace: Anthropology, Ergonomics and Design
. London: Taylor & Francis, 1986, 189; P. Tutt and D. Adler (eds),
New Metric Handbook
. London: Architectural Press, 1979, 221.
58 Dio Cassius, ‘Dio’s Roman history’,in
Loeb Classical Library
. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1914–27, LXVI, 24.
59 Tacitus, op. cit., xiv, 17; Corti, 1951, op. cit., 42–43; Engelmann, 1925, op. cit., 3; Russell, 1985, op. cit., 2; Trevelyan, 1976, op. cit., 11. This event is commemorated on a painting from the House of Anicetus (I, iii, 23); Naples Museum inv. 112222. 60 Fiorelli, 1873, op. cit., App. 3, 12–13; Jashemski, 1979a, op. cit., 343 n. 56; Russell, 1985, op. cit., 2; Wallace-Hadrill, 1991, op. cit., 201.
61 Nissen 1877 in Jongman, 1988, op. cit., 110 and Nissen 1877 in Mau, 1907, op. cit., 16. See also Jashemski, 1979a, op. cit., 343 n. 56; Wallace-Hadrill, 1991, op. cit., 201. 62 For example, with Bullard, 1984, op. cit., 200; Engelmann, 1925, op. cit., 4; P. Francis,
Volcanoes: A Planetary Perspective

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