Episode 1

Archaeologists begin the biggest dig in a generation. They are excavating a previously untouched area of Pompeii called Insula 10. This was a wealthy part of the city and they are excavating what they think was the home of a wealthy Pompeiian.

In a small room at the front of the building, anthropologist Dr. Valeria Amoretti is carefully excavating the remains of two bodies. They are skeletons of two women who have been crushed by a collapsing ceiling.

Volcanologist Professor Chris Jackson describes the warning signs in the hours before the eruption in AD 79. He then explains how the eruption blew the top of Mount Vesuvius clean off, sending a column of ash and rock high into the sky.

In a small room, the archaeologists discover 2000-year-old workman’s tools just where the workman left them at the time of the eruption. They include hoes and a pickaxe that has hardly changed since AD 79.

The team of archaeologists unearth a lavishly decorated fresco. The wall painting seems to show what looks like an ancient pizza. It’s a first for Pompeii, one of the oldest-ever depictions of a pizza.