Back at the Herculaneum site, Alcubierre makes some spectacular finds. His knowledge of engineering proves more useful than ever. After his men remove one large statue, he shows them how to quickly prop up the space it left. This helps prevent the collapse of the tunnel. In another case, his men find a statue, but it is in a very dusty area. Because of the dust, there’s not enough oxygen to keep the torches burning. Alcubierre orders
Alcubierre and his crew had to enlarge their tunnels and widen the access shaft to haul out this marble statue of Marcus Nonius Balbus on horseback.
His men to cut a hole into the area. Using a device of Alcubierre’s design, the men then suck the dusty air out the hole and pump clean air in.
Among Alcubierre’s most spectacular finds since he returns are two marble statues. They are of the Herculaneum official Marcus Nonius Balbus and his son, both on horseback. The huge statues stand about 8 feet (2.6 m) high. They are almost perfectly preserved. Their size, though, makes it impossible to get them through the tunnels. Alcubierre is desperate to get his hands on the statues. He orders his men to work for ten days straight. They open up old tunnels and widen the access shaft. They also build a special crate to haul up the statues. After many struggles, the workers manage to get them to the surface intact.
Alcubierre sometimes comes upon small private houses and shops. He doesn’t have much interest in these. The small houses don’t contain the
Learning to Excavate 23
Later excavations in Herculaneum uncovered this small private house on a street called Cardo IV.
Bronze and marble statues that the public buildings do. Ignoring these houses is not just his personal preference. He's also obeying the orders of the king’s court. Alcubierre is supposed to record minor finds but send only major objects to Portici. There, each night, Charles is formally presented with the day's most marvelous discoveries.
Alcubierre is desperate to remain in Charles's favor. He is under constant pressure to find bigger and better finds. But after 1746, major discoveries are fewer. Convinced Herculaneum has no more valuable finds, Alcubierre starts looking elsewhere.
World History
