Many collegiate graduate programs are not exactly glamorous. You forfeit your social life and free time for sleepless nights and library-related migraines.
However, there is a grad studies program at where students gladly dig deep into their studies: the Pompeii Archeological Research Project in the University of Cincinnati’s Classics Department. Spearheaded by assistant professor Steven Ellis and 35 graduate students, the research project is the only American graduate program with an excavation presence in Pompeii.
Eliis has been leading the digs for the past 15 years. The excavation effort in Pompeii focuses on uncovering how Pompeian families lived 200 years before the city was leveled in 79 AD by a volcanic eruption from Mt. Vesuvius.
“We’re interested in excavating stuff from before the volcano erupted,” says Ann Santen, a 10-year volunteer with the Classics Department who regularly participates in UC’s digs. “We are excavating very small stuff, not huge statues of mosaics.”
UC’s team has turned up many relics of life in Pompeii. The area was largely commercial, bustling with markets and commerce. Most of the finds are coins and ancient, carbonized food, like fish bones. Last year, the team found ornate decorated tiles, a controversial find because they appeared out of place for the time period.
“What was it doing in our merchant area?” asks Santen. “People who lived in this area would never have that decoration.”
But UC’s presence in Pompeii isn’t the only unique quality of the Classics’ digs. How they’ve been recording their findings has also garnered national attention. Ellis’s team used iPads to record and store the information from the site. This not only saved hundreds of man-hours in manual data entry, but was a prime example of using new technology to document ancient data.
In 2010, Ellis sent an email describing how they used iPads on excavation to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Remarkably, Jobs returned the email and expressed great interest in their efforts. Apple featured UC’s efforts on its website for much of 2010 as an example of creative iPad use.
“We got more hits than people who watched the Superbowl,” says Santen.
As the Classics Department readies for another dig in Pompeii, Cincinnatians can visit The Cincinnati Museum Center’s current “A Day in Pompeii” exhibit, where some of the children’s activities and displays were designed with help from UC Classics grad students.
Do Good:
• Visit the relics. The Cincinnati Museum Center is located at 1301 Western Ave.
Buy tickets online or call 513-287-7000.
•
Show your support. Become a Museum Center member or make a donation.
• Connect. With the Museum Center on
Facebook and
Twitter.
By Ryan McLendon
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.