An (admittedly spectacular) archaeological excavation in County Durham is the most recent addition to excavation sites that have been proclaimed ‘the Pompeii of . . .‘

As I begin to lose track of the many Pompeiis that there are out there already, I herewith provide an overview (incomplete, no doubt: additions highly welcome!), and I would like to propose the following new rule:

Don’t call it a ‘Pompeii of the _____’ unless (i) it was destroyed by a volcano and (ii) you’d be prepared to call Pompeii a ‘_____ of Roman Campania’.

[I will make an exception for the amazing Lego Pompeii, of course.]

* * *

Pompeiis of the North

British Isles

Binchester:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-28408488
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2700323/Pompeii-North-discovered-County-Durham-Jewellery-ornate-bath-house-site-Roman-fort.html

Cirencester:

• http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art519188-archaeologists-compare-site-to-pompeii-after-finding-bodica-tombstone-in-cirencester

Craig Rhos-y-Felin/Stonehenge:

• http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/626636/Stonehenge-mysterious-bluestones-glaciers

Culbin:

• http://www.strangehistory.net/2011/05/16/scotlands-sandy-pompeii/

Dunluce (Dunlace) Castle (a.k.a. ‘Little Pompeii’):

• http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-29023171.html
• http://www.newser.com/story/201562/near-irish-little-pompeii-an-even-more-ancient-site.html

Fenland (Must Farm, Peterborough):

• http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1568618.ece?CMP%3DOTH-gnws-standard-2015_06_13

London:

• http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/londons-pompeii.htm [or are we looking at a mere Herculaneum instead? http://www.barbicanlifeonline.com/2013/09/14/when-the-walbrook-river-powered-a-watermill/]

Island Mahee:

• http://www.jstor.org/stable/20513212

Peterborough:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35280290

Skara Brae:

• http://www.traveling-savage.com/2013/03/12/scotlands-pompeii-neolithic-village-skara-brae/

Vindolanda:

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-writing-competition/8812940/Just-back-everyday-treasures-in-Englands-Pompeii.html

Wroxeter:

• http://media.gn.apc.org/members/3/index8.html

Denmark

Greenland:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/08/science/story-of-viking-colonies-icy-pompeii-unfolds-from-ancient-greenland-farm.html

Skagen:

• http://readcentral.com/massappealnews//chapters/M-Pearson-Thomson/Denmark/009

Germany

• http://idaostenberg.com/2015/02/18/ar-dresden-ett-pompeji/

Iceland

• http://www.icelandmag.com/article/westman-islands-are-pompeii-north
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2683287/New-museum-uncovers-Pompeii-North-Icelandic-island-Heimaey.html

Ireland

Carrickmines Castle:

• http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/papers-today/12-archaeology/290-

Waterford:

• http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/viking-site-hailed-as-most-important-discovery-ever-26226087.html

Norway

• http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/mini-pompeii-norwegians-find-perfectly-preserved-stone-age-site-a-723712.html

Sweden

• http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/archaeologists-uncover-scene-horror-swedish-pompeii-f8C11338658

Pompeiis of the East

Afghanistan

[link to Pompeii somewhat tenuous]

• http://www.schools1.cic.ames.cam.ac.uk/pompeii_and_india.html

China

Jehol Biota:

• http://www.ibtimes.com/mystery-behind-pompeii-china-solved-jehol-biota-animals-got-fried-volcanic-ash-photos-1553291

Lajia:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4335160.stm

Tibet:

• http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/219892.htm

India

• http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/nm20/india-s-pompeii-uncovered/article1-183452.aspx

Indonesia

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4748902.stm

Japan

Japan’s northeastern coast:

• http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/japan-s-devastated-coastline-the-pompeii-of-the-pacific-a-756328.html

Kanai Higashiura:

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2250023/Pompeii-Japan-Scientists-unearth-body-6th-century-Japanese-warrior-buried-molten-ash.html

Greece

Olynthus:

• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greek-Pompeii-excavations-classical-destroyed/dp/B0008B7QX0

Santorini:

• http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/6th-november-1869/9/a-stone-age-pompeii

Jordan

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash

Poland

• http://www.edenpoland.pl/en/eden-runners-up/rewitalizacja/kostrzyns-pompeii

Qatar

• http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-23104-qatars-pompeii-of-the-gulf-unesco-heritage-site/

Syria (a.k.a. the ‘Pompeiis of the Desert’)

Dura:

• http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/stj/dura/

Palmyra:

• http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/apr/11/palmyra-isis-syria-restored-3d-printers-vandalism

Turkey

Ephesus:

• http://graecomuse.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/ephesus-a-turkish-pompeii-and-tourist-homing-beacon/

Priene:

• http://www.amazon.com/Priene-guide-Pompeii-Asia-Minor/dp/9758070169

Ukraine

• http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/chernobyl-s-aftermath-the-pompeii-of-the-nuclear-age-a-411684.html

Pompeiis of the West

Austria

• http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/prehistoric-disaster-an-alpine-pompeii-from-the-stone-age-a-583452.html

France

• http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/301458/21-found-buried-alive-in-Pompeii-of-the-Western-Front

Italy (other than the Pompeii!)

Herdonia (a.k.a. la Pompei di Puglia):

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q536JIvsKhg

Roscigno (a.k.a the Pompeii of the 1900s or ‘Twentieth-Century Pompeii’…):

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3155481/The-towns-time-forgot-Haunting-images-Italy-s-abandoned-ghost-towns-left-eerie-splendour-untouched-deserted-half-century-ago.html

Sardinia:

• http://lanuovasardegna.gelocal.it/tempo-libero/2016/04/16/news/una-pompei-sepolta-la-sardegna-nuragica-spazzata-via-da-uno-tsunami-1.13308405

Sicily:

• http://www.history.com/news/archaeologists-unearth-greek-pompeii-in-sicily

Val Camonica:

• http://www.bresciaoggi.it/home/scoperta-la-pompei-br-delle-incisioni-camune-1.3964841

Spain

Cordoba:

• http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/artefacts-from-andalucias-pompeii-go-on.html#.U9JVtUiPtaw

Écija:

• http://sevilla.abc.es/provincia/20150211/sevi-ecija-restos-arqueologicos-201502102035.html

Pompeiis of Africa

Algeria

• http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19230921&id=TJ0LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oVQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5031,588735

Tanzania

• http://www.footprinttravelguides.com/africa-middle-east/tanzania/coastal-tanzania-travel-guide/mafia-island-in-tanzania/sights-of-mafia-island-tanzania/

Sierra Leone

• Bunce Island – read about the ‘Pompeii of the Atlantic slave trade’ here.

Tunisia

• http://www.archaeological.org/lectures/abstracts/2697

Pompeiis of the Americas

Argentina

• http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/05/epecuen.html

El Salvador

• http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/07/08/in-el-salvador-pompei-americas-gives-up-its-treasures/
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/254568.stm

Martinique

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/centralamericaandcaribbean/730348/The-Caribbean-Leigh-Fermors-Friendly-Isles.html

Mexico

• http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2007/06/pompeii_in_mexi.html

United States

Gary, IN:

• http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/gary-in-not-quite-36-hours/Content?oid=925026

Ozette, WA:

• http://qmackie.com/2014/03/26/memorial-tributes-for-richard-doc-daugherty/

Vore Buffalo Jump, Wyo.:

• http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/student-project-helps-save-season-for-vore-buffalo-jump/article_77d15025-2cfd-523f-a2f4-9fcc9e96e270.html

Pompeiis Down Under

New Zealand

• http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10512676

Papua New Guinea

• http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9607261331/pompeii-pacific

Pompeiis of the Middle Ages

• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9803E1D81330E132A25754C1A9659C946097D6CF

Underwater Pompeiis

• http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/small-underwater-pompeii-found-off-greek-island-141120.htm

Pompeiis of … Whatnow!?

• Politics: http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/like-the-world-series-could-big-mo-determine-the-election-73361/

* * *

And what about Herculaneum?

Well, at least Rouen was a ‘Herculaneum of the Middle Ages’, apparently…

• http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/roberts-the-porch-of-st-maclou-rouen-n02956

More recently, Akrotiri got upgraded to be a Herculaneum of the Aegean:

• http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1189834-d4126654-r231191746-Akrotiri_Archaeological_Site-Akrotiri_Santorini_Cyclades.html

Also, the London-based Pompeii (see above) may, in fact, have been a Herculaneum instead:

• http://www.barbicanlifeonline.com/2013/09/14/when-the-walbrook-river-powered-a-watermill/

And then there is ……. the HERCULANEUM OF HISTORY!

(to be continued, no doubt.) Original post: 25 June 2014; last update to the list: 18 November 2016.