Remains of 2 Victims of Mount Vesuvius’s Eruption Discovered in Pompeii

Remains of two (2) men who lost their lives during the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago have been found by archaeologists during the current excavations at Civita Giuliana, around 700 metres northwest of Pompeii. This discovery was unveiled by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii on Saturday, November  21, 2020.

The two victims were found near the “cryptoporticus”, a passageway below the villa. Once the bones have been analyzed, plaster was poured in and the casts revealed the shapes of the bodies of the two victims, in a supine position.

Studies revealed that one of the victims was a young man, between 18 and 23/25 years of age, who was approximately 156cm tall. “The presence of a series of vertebral compressions, unusual in a young man of his age, would suggest that he had carried out hard manual work,” stated the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in a press release. Which means, he could have been a slave.

The other victim, on the other hand, was suggested to once have been a man aged between 30 and 40 years and approximately 162cm tall who wore more intricate clothing compared to the other.

According to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, both men had died suddenly during the second pyroclastic flow which they defined as the “most violent and energetic” and is “capable of breaking down walls orientated at right angles to the direction of flow.” The second pyroclastic flow was said to have hit Pompeii and the surrounding area in the early hours and it led to the death of those who were in the city and countryside.

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Source: Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Science Alert, Pompeii Sites YouTube Channel