«Advances in excavation techniques help to more clearly see the hell that destroyed the city in two days»
Skeleton remains dating back to the famous earthquake that destroyed the ancient city were found during excavations in Pompeii. Presumably, two men who lived in the ancient past died when a building collapsed in the early stages of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The remains of two people believed to have died in the earthquake that accompanied the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 have been found in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.
According to The Guardian, the skeletons believed to be those of two men in their 50s were found during excavations in the Castiamanti area of Pompeii, which consists of several houses and a bakery.
The well-preserved remains were found under a collapsed wall. The broken bones indicate that the men likely died as a result of multiple injuries sustained from the collapse of the building in which they were seeking shelter, due to an earthquake that occurred early in the volcanic eruption.
Presumably one of the unfortunates raised his hand in an attempt to defend himself against the falling wall.
The wall is believed to have collapsed before the strong pyroclastic flows that buried the city.
Gabriel Zuchtrigel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, said the discovery further revealed «hell» the human dimension of tragedy.
“As some archaeologists say, the discovery is very important because they are actually digging up human beings, which is sad,” he said. – Human remains are so fragile… In Pompeii, the development of excavation techniques helps us to see more clearly the hell that destroyed the city in two days”.
Beads from a necklace and six coins – two of them date back to the middle of the second century BC – were also found in the same room as the victims.
“Pompeii is a huge archaeological laboratory that has regained strength in recent years, surprising the world with constant discoveries and demonstrating the superiority of Italy in this field”, — said Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The ruins of Pompeii were discovered in the 16th century, and the first excavations began in 1748. Over the centuries, more than 1,500 of the approximately 2,000 victims have been found, recalls The Guardian.
The last time human remains were discovered there was in 2020, when the skeletons of two men, presumably a rich man and his slave, were found during excavations at a villa on the outskirts of the city. It is believed that the two men, lying close together, escaped the initial phase of the eruption, when the city was covered in volcanic ash and pumice, but then still died in the explosion that occurred the next day.
At the end of February this year, the media reported that new treasures were waiting to be discovered in a part of Pompeii that had remained virtually untouched for more than 2,000 years. Archaeologists hope to unearth skeletons from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 in an entire city block, in addition to rare mosaics and frescoes that have remained hidden today. “We are about to come into contact with the past, and this is a big unknown; we don't know what awaits us, – said the director of the Pompeii archaeological park, Gabriel Zuchtrigel, at the time.
“Now we can also analyze the DNA of any skeletons found and start to figure out if the victims were related to each other,”, he added.
Archaeologist Giuseppe Scarpati, who worked on the site, said that at the time of the devastating eruption, this particular area was experiencing an economic boom as the inhabitants «built a new thermal bath on a nearby corner.»
The purpose of this particular excavation was reported to be — not to excavate the whole city, but rather, those parts of it that are in danger of collapse. “If they had unearthed everything 100 years ago, we would have lost so much, given the technology we have today for excavation and conservation, – Zuchtrigel explained. – So think about what will happen in 100 years. Let's leave them something.