Episodi vulcanici e vulcanoclastici (v-xvii secolo) che hanno sepolto un edificio romano a Pollena Trocchia (Italia)

Abstract

G.F. De Simone et al., Burial of a roman building at Pollena Trocchia (Italy) by volcanic and volcanoclastic episodes (VXVII century). (IT ISSN 0394-3356, 2009).
The north slope of the Somma-Vesuvius complex is archaeologically still little known. Archaeological and volcanologic field research at
a site in the town of Pollena Trocchia offers new data for understanding the burying process of the AD 472 eruption and following
eruptive events. So far seven rooms of a Roman building have been brought to light, which probably date to the 2nd/3rd century AD.
The building consists of two storeys. The floors and the collapse of peripheral walls are the only remains of the upper floor. The lower
storey was already severely damaged and spoliated before the AD 472 Vesuvian eruption which buried it. The exposed burial sequence
is constituted by 7 stratigraphic units interlayered with paleosoils. Four units are exclusively composed of pyroclastic deposits deposited during an explosive eruption. Three units are formed by volcanoclastic debris deposited during either the final phases of the eruption or sometime afterwards. The stratigraphic and lithological features, and the archaeological evidence correlate some of these stratigraphic units with known Vesuvian eruptions. In particular, the thick basal sequence that buried most of the building is associated with the reworking of pyroclastic deposits on the north side of the volcano during the last phases of the AD 472 eruption. The structures placed on top of the volcanoclastic deposit testify to a later phase of life, which was quickly interrupted by a subsequent eruption (probably that of AD 512). The whole area was subsequently completely abandoned and covered by volcanoclastic and volcanic debris throughout the following centuries. The stratigraphic sequence attests the impact of secondary events (lahars) as the main cause of destruction and burial of the Roman building.