American Friends of Herculaneum
promoting appreciation for herculaneum

The American Friends of Herculaneum (the AFoH) are scholars, students, docents, and amateurs of all levels interested in the ancient culture, the volcanic catastrophe, and scientific rediscovery of Herculaneum. Formally incorporated in 2012 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." Caitlin Knortz won the undergraduate prize.

Why join the American Friends?

The AFoH promote public awareness of issues pertaining to Herculaneum.
We support students of papyrology, archaeology, history, and classical philology, and all who have even 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 2020) 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 lecture regularly in prominent venues from Malibu to Boston and beyond. Their studies of Herculaneum take them even farther afield.
Above, Ambra Spinelli, AFoH Scholar 2016, takes measurements for her doctoral thesis in the Casa di Tramezzo di Legno.

AFoH trustee Roger Macfarlane speaks about the Herculaneum Papyri at the Getty Villa, Malibu, in October 2019, an exhibition curated by AFoH trustee Ken Lapatin — AFoH president Carol Mattusch and AFoH supporter Richard Mason also participated in the special research day for scholars.

Actively Fostering Young Scholars

The AFoH Board awards graduate ($2000)
and undergraduate ($1500) awards annually.
The 2021 awards are seen as Covid-relief grants.
The AFoH application deadline is 10 April 2021.
Click for full information.

Marzia D'Angelo, a PhD student at the University of Pisa, enjoyed a 2020 AFoH graduate award. She pursued her project called "Reconstructing the Herculaneum Collection: a new software for the stratigraphical problems in the Herculaneum Papyri."
You can read her report here.

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. Crowdsourced donations and a matching-pledge from the American Friends of Herculaneum resulted in a donation of over $4200 in Spring 2018.
Above, Katy Knortz, AFoH Scholar 2018, studies pottery remains at Cappabiancha, Pollena Trocchia (NA) alongside other participants in the Apolline Project.

Coming Soon!!

Call for Papers: The paper panel at the 2022 Society for Classical Studies (San Francisco) sponsored by the AFoH is called "Herculaneum Studies: the next generation". Abstracts are due by 1 March 2021.
Click this link for full, detailed information.

Rebooking the biennial Friends' viaggio a Napoli
The American Friends of Herculaneum coordinate with the British Friends to travel to the Bay of Naples for pleasant but focused learning. Though Covid-19 prevented the Friends' 2020 trip, hopes for 2021 are high. Drop us an email if you're interested in knowing more about this special perk for Friends.

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

American Friends of Herculaneum promoting appreciation for herculaneum