Pompeii: Do we have a good idea of what lies under the unexcavated parts of the site? Have we found pre-eruption maps or texts that tell us what we would find? Is it possible to study the site without digging?

by spikebrennan
pensivegargoyle

No, no, and yes. The full street plan can be extrapolated from the existing excavations and there is information that can be obtained by ground-penetrating radar but I would hesitate to say that it gives anyone a good idea of what is there. The problem is that so much volcanic material was dumped on the town that the best modern methods have a hard time. More on that here.