Pompeii and Herculaneum
Current preservation issues of Ancient sites such as Pompeii and Herculaneum can be categorized in groups-
-Looting/ Vandalism
-Inadequate management
-Over Excavation
-Tourism
All of these issues have their impacts on the Ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, whether it being a slow but gradual degradation or a quick one. Another major factor involved in the destruction or degradation of these ancient sites is the eventual growth of vegetation, including weeds which overgrow the structures and lead to their destruction. As roots of certain plants grow they increase the gaps of already existing cracks or even open new cracks creating considerable structural damage, algae and other mossy type plants over grow on mosaics and other rock surfaces damaging them permanently if not leaving a strong grassy stain ruining the architectural significance of most of those mosaics.
Another problem faced with sites was the early excavation of objects and sites in Pompeii and Herculaneum in the early 19th century, were the sites were very poorly excavated usually damaging large proportions of the site, where usually the excavators or archaeologists would usually only excavate the more aesthetic objects rather than excavating a site that would be on top of the more expensive objects. Poor restoration can also account for some of the problems encountered with conservation. Poor restoration can be described as inexperienced workers have operated on sites with little or no knowledge of archeology, usually using methods to extract important artifacts ends with the destruction of more of the surrounding then actually excavating anything important. Structures that have been restored to last the modern day environment have been done very poorly and usually end up with the actual destruction of the structure or permanent damage of it. Drainage are also other problems involved with poor restoration as when the rains come pools are formed and vast quantities of the structures and frescos are ruined, usually creating their own salt pools which also damages the surrounding walls of buildings. Also the mortar used to cover up many of the cracks has either been placed on very poorly, or the mortar itself was of bad quality so after a short period of time it has disappeared exposing the site to cracks and the growth of plants and other algae. Or sometimes mortar upon mortar has been placed on the walls placed on layers upon layers of other caking agents and covering cements causing a weight built up on the wall, eventually leading to the wall cracking even further, or chunks of the wall falling off due to the amount of mortar placed on the wall. Another raised issue with the restoration process is the amount that is actually spent on restoring Pompeii, millions of Euros is spent by the government to keep restoring these sites but a proportion of the money disappears either being spent on unnecessary resources and sloppy work or going into the pockets of corrupt officials or the Camorra Mafia that inhabit the Neapolitan prefecture, as the Mafia find jobs as restoration firms and the money that is sent to them is actually used for the underworld and crime society of Italy.
