Tuesday, November 18, 2014

NAPLES, ITALY—The excavation of a pottery workshop near Pompeii’s Herculaneum gate has revealed ten vases that were dropped and abandoned at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79 A.D. “They are really unique items. The potters made them with clay, embellished them with decorations, and were ready to place them into the kiln when Vesuvius erupted,” dig director Laëtitia Cavassa of the Center Jean Bérard told Discovery News. Covered and sealed in a layer of ash, the workshop had at least three rooms outfitted with tools and pottery wheels and two kilns. To read about recent work at one of the most iconic sites in Pompeii, see "Saving the Villa of the Mysteries."