Archaeologists Unearth Two More Vesuvius Victims at Pompeii

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E., a man and woman living in nearby Pompeii decided to hide out in a small bedroom. Unfortunately, their shelter-in-place strategy proved deadly.

Nearly 2,000 years later, archaeologists have unearthed their remains, as well as other items that shed light on their last moments, according to a statement from Pompeii Archaeological Park.

“It’s hard to imagine what these individuals went through,” Tristan Hughes, host of the History Hit podcast “The Ancients,” tells the Washington Post’s Adela Suliman. “No doubt it was a similar story for many other Pompeiians, too.”

The two individuals—a man between 15 and 20 and a woman between 35 and 45—were unearthed in a small room in Region IX, a zone that archaeologists have been excavating in recent years, per CBS News’ Emily Mae Czachor. Archaeologists think residents were using the space, which was near a large living room, as a temporary bedroom while other parts of the house were being remodeled.

The man and woman, whose relationship is unknown, may have retreated there when the other rooms of the house began to fill with pumice from the volcanic eruption, closing the door and trapping themselves inside. The man appears to have perished beneath a crumbling wall. The woman, who had been carrying some coins and jewelry, was found lying on a bed.

When the ash cooled, it preserved the layout of the room and its furniture long after the organic matter had decomposed. By creating casts of the negative spaces left behind, archaeologists were able to reconstruct the furniture inside the room: a wooden bed, a stool, a chest, a bronze candelabrum and a table that once held bronze, glass and ceramic objects.

“The opportunity to analyze the invaluable anthropological data relating to the two victims found within the archaeological context that marked their tragic end allows us to recover a considerable amount of information about the daily life of the ancient Pompeiians,” says Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park, in the statement.

In other words, Pompeii's unique conditions allow experts to see detailed glimpses into the behaviors of the city’s ancient residents. Many sections of the site have yet to be excavated, and archaeologists are frequently making new discoveries.

The makeshift bedroom provides “valuable information about the last moments of people’s lives in the eruption of 79 C.E., the choices they made, what to bring and where to take refuge,” Zuchtriegel tells Euronews’ Theo Farrant.

Sophie Hay, an archaeologist at Pompeii, tells the Washington Post that these kinds of discoveries help to humanize the city’s ancient victims.

“The opportunity to recognize the victims’ choices to seek shelter or to try to escape, to take certain objects with them and leave others behind, brings out a common background of humanity,” she says.

The excavations of the home are part of a recent rush of archaeological activity as experts work to halt the site’s deterioration, per the Independent’s Gavin Jones and Marta Di Donfrancesco. Other discoveries this year include children’s drawings of gladiators, a shrine with blue-painted walls and a series of frescoes associated with the Trojan War.

Margherita Bassi | READ MORE

Margherita Bassi is a freelance journalist and trilingual storyteller. Her work has appeared in publications including BBC Travel, Discover magazine, Live Science, Atlas Obscura and Hidden Compass.