Description: The director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park offers a vivid view of daily life in the lost city, shares the latest discoveries, and reflects on preserving heritage.
In The Buried City, Gabriel Zuchtriegel takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of Pompeii and reveals new archaeological finds that are being unearthed at the site's biggest dig in a generation. As director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Zuchtriegel presents a uniquely intimate perspective on this city that was tragically destroyed and frozen in time by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Among the ruins, we find unmade beds, dishes left drying, and bodies of victims encased in ash, but Zuchtriegel shows that we've only begun to understand this fascinating place, as a third of the site remains unexcavated. Zuchtriegel leads us into the heart of the city, reconstructing Pompeii as it would have been, showing us who lived there, what mattered to them, and what happened in their final hours. The Buried City reveals the latest discoveries unearthed at Pompeii--including a banquet hall with murals of Greek gods, a fresco of what appears to be a pizza, and the remains of individuals crushed by debris--all buried for almost two thousand years. Zuchtriegel offers a vivid portrait of this World Heritage site as a vibrant and diverse city, connecting us to a past that is much closer than we think and inviting us to reflect on our role as keepers of the site and its history.Brief description:
Gabriel Zuchtriegel is director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Prior to being appointed to oversee Pompeii in 2021, he was director of the archaeological parks of Paestum and Velia, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. Zuchtriegel is the author of numerous articles and books, including Colonization and Subalternity in Classical Greece and The Making of the Doric Temple.
Review Quotes:
"Zuchtriegel has demonstrated a keen interest in fostering a sense of ownership of the archaeological heritage of Pompeii in people who live in the surrounding areas, especially the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. . . . With this emphasis on the principle that archaeology must benefit society, Zuchtriegel prompts academics to double the efforts in reshaping university curricula so that the next generation of Classical archaeologists can be trained in other technical skills that have become essential to the profession, whether to conduct fieldwork projects or perform museum roles (e.g., accounting, human resource management, communication, public engagement and fundraising). Most of all, it challenges us to reflect on the influence that our personal histories have on the way we approach and interpret the past, which in our scholarship is often presented as dry science, and ultimately reconnect with the true passions that motivate our daily work."
-- "Bryn Mawr Classical Review"