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"Bodies from the Ash . Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii" by James M. Deem

Author:

James M. Deem

Publisher:

Boston: Houghton Mifflin 2005

Reviewed by:

John Warren Stewig, Carthage College

An oversized, horizontal orientation, with many black and white photos (some from earlier eras in which curious tourists flocked to the city), recent full color photos, maps, and additional information presented in marginalia has resulted in an exemplary production. Wide margins set off the concentrated amount of information, including sequence details drawn from the writing of Younger Pliny, whose uncle died in the eruption. The mistaken idea that lava flow did the destruction is corrected in the detailed description of the deluge of ash and pumice with surges of super hot gasses, which exceeded 900 degrees, Fahrenheit. When excavations began in 1709, diggers discovered the deposits reached a depth of 12 feet.

This is also a story of the changing nature of excavations and conservation of remains from earliest digging when sites were looted of valuables and many skeletal remains inadvertently destroyed. Giuseppe Fiorelli made the breakthrough that if plaster casts of the skeletons were made, rather than removing them, much more accurate information about time and location of death, could be available. The effects of the eruption on nearby Herculaneum are described: though wind conditions allowed many residents to escape, subsequent eruptions leveled the city, depositing up to 65 feet of volcanic deposits, which during the l980s revealed over 300 skeletal remains. The book closes with a perplexing note: even though Vesuvius remains a potential threat, over l million people live in its vicinity today- a disaster waiting to happen?

The elegant production job is sure to engage many curious child readers in a time period and event few will know until they are lucky enough to discover this book.