Karl Weber

Karl Jakob Weber was a Swiss archeologist, military engineer and mercenary who worked under the orders of the Spanish military engineer Roque de Alcubierre in the excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae, under the patronage of King Charles VII of Naples. At first a soldier and military engineer, he joined the excavations in 1749. Weber's detailed drawings provided some of the basis for the luxurious royal folios of Le Antichità di Ercolano esposte, by means of which the European intelligentsia became aware of the details of what was being recovered. He is considered a pioneer of modern archeology.