I took the kids on Saturday to the Pompeii exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. This traveling exhibit had original artifacts from the excavated site. It was amazing to think that the objects you were looking at were almost 2,000 years old.
The Pompeiians were a pretty advanced culture with theatres and bath houses that included heated and cooled pools. Also included in the exhibit were gladiator armor, glass vessels, medical implements and kitchen wares.
The grand finale of the exhibit were the body casts of some of the victims. Scientists seem to think that people were killed pretty much instantly in a giant wave of heat. The heat was enough to kill them, but not to burn the bodies so that when the ash fell, it encased the bodies. Back in the mid 1800s an archaeologist figured out a way to pour plaster in the crevice made by the decomposed body and to therefore make a cast of the person. They were amazing in detail, but pretty creepy too.
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| fishing hook and weights (there must have been some big fish!) |
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| 2,000 year old glass jug |
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| Gladiator helmet |
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| Body cast |
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| This was a pregnant lady |
While waiting in line to get in, I realized that I had actually been to the real Pompeii back when I lived in France. Cannon was laughing at me for having forgot. Getting old is not fun!
Also while we were waiting our turn, we took these selfies to pass the time. I love the last one!
