Reconstructing the Lost Moregine Site: A VR Based Approach to Simulate and Navigate an Inaccessible Archaeological Excavation

Abstract

The archaeological site of Moregine, discovered near Pompei during local highway maintenance works and mainly known for the beautiful paintings and jewels found within a very well preserved Roman villa, has been buried according to cost and convenience evaluations (Nappo 2003). As there are still a lot of unanswered questions which archaeologists can no longer address through field research, this site is paradigmatic of how computer generated images, real time interaction and stereoscopy can be of help for the further study of inaccessible locations. The methodology proposed in this study is aimed at achieving the most accurate and visually realistic virtual reconstruction of the site as it appeared to archaeologists after the completion of the excavation. In this sense, the resulting simulation is more focused on the archaeologists’ interests than most of the available digital reconstructions, typically designed to address the request of cultural heritage dissemination for a wide audience. The object of the digital reconstruction is “building B” of the Moregine archaeological area (Mastroroberto 2003), more precisely “house D”, which is part of a wider block consisting of cauponae located on the northern side of the ancient Sarno river bed (Di Maio and Stefani 2003). This compound house was originally buried by the eruption of the Vesuvio in 79 AD, and was first unearthed by a survey in the years 1880–1881. Overall, the excavation considered for virtual reconstruction covered an area of 20 × 10 m, with a floor level positioned 3 m below the present-day street level, exposed to the water table, the main reason behind the decision to rebury the site.