Several new announcements are color-coded below!

American Friends of Herculaneum
promoting appreciation for herculaneum

The American Friends of Herculaneum (the AFoH) are scholars, students, and amateurs of all levels interested in the ancient culture, the volcanic catastrophe, and scientific rediscovery of Herculaneum. Formally incorporated in 2011 and directly affiliated with the UK Friends of Herculaneum Society (est. Oxford 2004), our common objectives:

to advance the education of the public concerning Herculaneum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in particular to create an archive of materials related to its study
to promote research on Herculaneum, including the continued investigation of the Villa of the Papyri, and the publication of important research
to promote the conservation, for the benefit of the public, of artefacts and buildings at Herculaneum

We hope you'll join us!

Supporting High Quality Scholarship

AFoH Board and membership proudly supports annually one graduate research fellowship and another for an undergraduate student.
Janet S. Dunkelbarger won the 2018 competition for the graduate award and used the funding to support her research on "Dining in the Gardens of Herculaneum and Pompeii." "My project," Dunkelbarger says,"focuses on these Garden Dining Spaces, examining their context, construction, and decoration, and exploring how their design and use enhance our understanding of ancient Roman social behavior, economic activity, and religious and ritual practice."
To read her full report, click here

Why join the American Friends?

The AFoH promotes public awareness of issues surrounding Herculaneum.
We support students of papyrology, archaeology, history, and classical philology, and all who even have amateur interest in ancient Herculaneum benefit from membership.
Annual meetings, semi-annual publications of the newsletter, and on-site visits to Naples and Herculaneum arranged every other year (next in 2018) keep AFoH members up to date and well connected.
All donations and membership subscriptions are tax deductible. Join here.

Where we've Been

AFoH scholars have lectured in prominent venues from Malibu to Boston and beyond. Their studies of Herculaneum take them even farther afield.

Above, 2016 AFoH Scholar Ambra Spinelli pursues her doctoral study in the Casa di Tramezzo di Legno

Actively Fostering Young Scholars

AFoH membership supports one graduate ($2500) and one undergraduate ($1500) fellowship annually.
Janet Dunkelbarger, PhD candidate at the University of Virginia, won the 2018 graduate award.
(Click here for PDF report.)

An exciting initiative in 2018 brought many AFoH members to donate especially to support the Ancient Graffiti Project documenting graffiti inscribed on walls in Herculaneum. (Click here to learn more.)
Above, Gracie Gibson, AFoH Scholar, photographs a graffito at Herculaneum with Dr. DiBiase Sammons, her professor.

Where We're Heading

The annual meetings of the Society for Classical Studies, San Diego 6-9 January 2019, will include a full session of papers "Herculaneum: Works in Progress". Proposals for 15-20 minutes papers are due by 1 March 2018.
Follow this link for full information.

Plan on joining AFoH and UK Friends at Naples in June 2018.
Click here to learn more.

Drunken Satyr, bronze found at Villa dei Papiri (1754), NM 5628