On 24 August AD 79, Vesuvius erupted and buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Sixteen centuries later, in 1709, a peasant was digging a well over Herculaneum and uncovered some sculpted marble. A local prince sent some workmen to uncover more treasures. The idea of digging into the earth to uncover relics from the human past eventually morphed into the science of archaeology. --- Source: [[A Little History of Archaeology]]