An overview of Herculaneum - Pompeii and Herculaneum were the two famous towns buried by Vesuvius in the eruption of AD 79. While Pompeii was buried in hot ash and was fully excavated in the 1700's, Herculaneum was buried in a sea of hot volcanic mud 60 ft. deep that extended the shoreline out 400 yards from where it used to be. This is a view of what used to be the harbor. Those archways were waterfront boat and warehouse storage. Over many years, the modern town of Ercolano was built above the ruins. Therefore, when excavations were started here, only a very small area of the ancient town (3 blocks square) was excavated. The rest remains buried in the hardened mud.