Theoretical structural archaeology is about understanding the
evidence of ancient built environments, and previously I have written about the
importance of those sites ‘frozen in time’ by some disaster preserving
buildings and content in situ.
For the Roman world, Herculaneum and Pompeii give us that unique
insight, a level of detail, unimaginable in conventional archaeology, which has
become central to our understanding of the period. While we are familiar with plaster body
castes, dramatic reconstructions, and looming clouds of volcanic death, quite
what this really means to archaeology, archaeologists and everybody else is a
lot more complex, nuanced, and interesting.
