An episode of the series Secrets of the dead

Pompeii, the lost Roman city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. has long been a source of fascination to archaeologists. Its sister city Herculaneum, buried in the same eruption but to a much greater depth, reveals an even more complete picture of Roman life. The high temperature of gases that engulfed Herculaneum perfectly preserved much of the ancient city. This film tells of the scientific advances in our knowledge of the two cities. The Herculaneum Conservation Project works with vulcanologists and forensic scientists to piece together the mystery of how the Herculaneans lived and died. Analysis of skeletons discovered in the 1980s show that death came swiftly, at temperatures of 500 degrees. Pompeii and Herculaneum now face a double threat: the cities are crumbling for lack of resources to conserve them, and Vesuvius is on course to erupt again

Produced and directed by Richard Bedser; editor, Emily West; executive producer, Jared Lipworth

Narrator: Liev Schreiber

Rating: Not rated

DVD

Closed-captioned