Chifley College Senior Campus is excited to announce that we have partnered with Chester Hill High School and Sydney University, including Dr Estelle Lazer and Associate Professor Kathryn Welch, to better understand the human victims of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD79. The Pompeii Cast Project sets out to challenge the myths about the lives and personalities of these victims of a mass disaster, and use the latest developments in digital imaging and scientific analysis to discover what can actually be known about these victims.

Terri Katsikaros and Dianne Harper are passionate and experienced teachers of Ancient History, with a particular interest in widening participation opportunities for students from low socio economic backgrounds.

Watch a short video ‘Radiology Beyond Medicine’, produced by Roberto Canigliua of Philpis Italy, demonstrating their involvement in our work. We thank Roberto for making it available and for his enthusiastic support of our project. The video shows the work of the Pompeii Archaeological Park (especially the expert restorers who had to move the casts and the Director General, Professor Massimo Osanna) and medical staff of Maria Rosaria Casa di Cura (Hospital) Pompeii who assisted in the making of the 2015 documentary for Lion Television and the 2017 documentary for Voltage Television. There is a short glimpse of Estelle as she watches the casts being scanned in the local hospital.

Some help with the Italian:

• La Radiologia oltre la Medicina: Radiology Beyond Medicine.
• La prima volta nella storia; un’ esperienza unica: The first time in history; a unique experience.
• Archeometria non distruttiva: Non-destructive archaeometry.
• Scoperte a conferme su sesso, età e patologie: Information about sex, age at death and pathology uncovered and confirmed (NB “confirmed” might be a little optimistic)
• Studiati 25 calchi su 86: 25 casts from 86.
• Mostra “Rapiti alla Morte”: Exhibition “Snatiched from Death” (Pompeii 2015)
• Post-Processing Avanzato: Advanced Post-processing
• Giugno 2017: June 2017
• TAC da 256 Strati: CT scans of 256 layers
• In collaborazione con L’Università di Sydney: In collaboration with the University of Sydney
• Un Team di Esperti: A team of Experts
• Lo Studio TAC dei Calchi di Pompei: The CT-scan study of the Pompeii casts

Our resources page is full of links to news articles, documentaries, lectures and more. Revisit this stellar lecture by Dr Estelle Lazer on last year's field work, brought to you by Sydney Ideas podcast archive on Soundcloud

Our resources page is full of the latest media coverage of the work our tean gets up to in the field and how it connects to our colleagues working across the archaeological park. Documentaries, Publications and Radio Interviews are just some of the ways in which we are able to get the latest insights and research out to you. 

In April 2018 , Dr Estelle Lazer joined colleagues Dr Eric Poehler, Dr Gillian Shepherd, Dr Steven Ellis on ABC's Radio National to discuss the latest archaeological research across the site. You can download the audio or read the transcript via the ABC website.

The Pompeii cast Project features in the 2018 documentary Pompeii's Final Hours: New Evidence. Watch Estelle and the team take Bettany Hughes through all the latest evidence revealed by the project on Voltage TV 

About the Documentary
For centuries, a third of the Roman city of Pompeii was left untouched. This meant that hundreds of shops, homes, streets and bodies laid unseen beneath ash and rubble for 2000 years – exactly as they were on the day of the eruption. For the very first time, this untouched part of the ancient town underwent new archaeological digs – Pompeii’s Final Hours: New Evidence captured these ground-breaking works. Over three episodes, Bettany Hughes, Raksha Dave and John Sergeant bring this ancient city back to life.
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In October Director General Massimo Osanna (Parco Arceologico di Pompei) was presented with his very own LEGO mini-fig at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for our Pompeii Cast Project between the University of Sydney and the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

Made by Liam Jensen of Lego Classicists (Sydney) and co-ordinated by the Nicholson Museum, Dr Estelle Lazer had the pleasure of presenting LEGO Osanna to Director Ossana. We are thrilled that the mini-fig was well received and was announced by Director Osanna on twitter.

The Italian press joined in on the fun, widely reporting on the LEGO Osanna and the Nicholson Museum's exhibtion. Including: La Repubblica Napoli, Il Mattino, Corriere Del Mezzogiorno, Madeinpompeii.it and Ecampania

Before making his long journey to Italy, LEGO Osanna was taken on a guided tour through LEGO Pompeii at the Nicholson Museum, where he climbed the heights of the Amphitheatre, met with tourists enjoying the LEGO sites and even joined LEGO Estelle in her work on the skeletal remains.

We are so pleased to welcome you to the Pompeii Cast Project's website! Here you will find the latest news and research from the project, all of our resources including past lectures, podcasts, interviews, a full list of our publications and content specifically for teaching ancient Roman history and archaeology.

Over the course of the project we will use this blog to share our research, methodologies and field practices, as well as insights into the ethics of investigating human remains and stories from behind the scenes.
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