Bronze Age pottery. Archaeologist cleaning volcanic mud and ash from a piece of pottery found in the volcanic mud and ash cast of a Bronze Age village. This is a small cup. Around 3500 years ago, a large eruption of Vesuvius destroyed this Bronze Age village. The volcanic mud and ash preserved the shape of the wooden buildings, along with their contents, in the same way as at Pompeii over a thousand years later. The site was discovered in 2001 at Nola, near Naples, Italy. Excavations have uncovered several huts, tools, pottery, and ornaments made from the tusks of wild boar.