The city of Pompeii in Italy, buried by the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius Volcano seen in the background, was and still is a time capsule of Greek and Roman art and architecture. Much, but not all, of the city has been excavated from beneath the 6 meters of ash fall and pyroclastic-flow deposits that blanketed the area. In a way, the eruption destroyed and preserved the city at the same time; few man-made places on Earth have survived for nearly 2000 years. Photo copyright R.W. Decker