Photos by Retiring Guy (June 4, 2014)
New York Times, 3/2/2025
Franz Lidz reports:
In sticking by Pliny, the park walked back some of the recent enthusiasm for Oct. 24 as a possible start date for the eruption, a theory that had been fueled by the 2018 discovery of a scrap of graffiti on a wall of the site’s freshly excavated House of the Garden. The charcoal scrawl records a date that translates to Oct. 17 in the modern calendar, suggesting that the eruption might have occurred after this time. The find, which did not specify a year, seemed to corroborate other unearthed clues that pointed to cooler weather than is typical in August: remnants of unripe autumnal fruits such as chestnuts and pomegranates; heavy wool clothing found on bodies; wine in sealed jars, indicating that the grape harvest was over; and wood-burning braziers in homes.
Massimo Osanna, general director of the park at the time of the discovery, was convinced that the graffiti was idly doodled a week before the explosion. “This spectacular find finally allows us to date, with confidence, the disaster,” he said. Dr. Dunn found it improbable that Pliny would have forgotten such a momentous date; still, she said, “in my view, the traditional date of Aug. 24 is just too early in the year to be accurate.”
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