Following the eruption of 79 A.D., Herculaneum was hit by a series of burning clouds (surges) with a temperature of over 400 °C and a speed of about 10 to 20 metres per second, causing instantaneous death by thermal shock in living beings and, in the case of organic substances, carbonisation. This phenomenon has led to the preservation of a whole range of materials that only due to exceptional cases have been passed on to us from the ancient world. Wood, for example. At Herculaneum, furniture, sculptures, working tools such as a press, doors, stairs, lintels and partitions, and small boats were found, including one discovered during the excavation of the ancient beach. And then the foodstuffs, a wide range of seeds, cereals and fruits. Also, fabrics and ropes.

Among the most extraordinary finds are the wax tablets, recovered in some of the houses, and the papyrus scrolls, mostly from the explorations of the Villa dei Papiri (Villa of the Papyri), which, together with the inscriptions and graffiti found during the excavations of the city, testify to many facets, both social, commercial and legal, of the life of the Herculaneum community. Thanks to this documentation, we know the names of many of the free adult male inhabitants who lived in Herculaneum in the years before the eruption, and those of numerous female figures.

During the last excavation campaign along the ancient beach, aimed at better defining the layout of the southern suburban area, the collapsed roof of one of the rooms of the Casa del Rilievo di Telefo (House of the Relief of Telephus), probably the so-called “marble room”, was excavated as part of the activities of the Herculaneum Conservation Project. The most remarkable features are the “living” and uncarbonised wooden ceiling, worked with inlays and geometric reliefs, with traces of gilding and red, white, blue and black paint. The polychrome coffered ceiling would reflect the marbles that adorned the Hall of the Casa del Rilievo di Telefo.

Another extraordinary discovery took place in 2007 in the area of the Villa dei Papiri. Inside a panoramic room of a pavilion of the villa facing the sea, located at a much lower level than the main floor and already neglected in the final years of the city’s life due to the advancing sea, the remains of eight legs were discovered that could have come either from tripods or tables. These are fine pieces of furniture with a wooden frame covered with a fine ivory veneer worked in bas-relief with figures related to the Dionysian world and scenes of bloodless sacred offerings.