The remains of two victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD have been discovered in the excavation areas of Regio IX Insula 10 in Pompeii, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced. The two skeletons were found in a small bedroom of a villa. The woman was lying on the bed with a small treasure of gold, bronze and silver coins and jewelry including gold earrings topped with pearls. The man was lying at the foot of the bed.
By studying the imprints in the ash, archaeologists were able to establish the arrangement of the furniture (a bed, a chest, a bronze candelabra and a table) and reconstruct the events. The two inhabitants of Pompeii took refuge in the small room protected by a closed window; they remained sheltered from the rain of ash for several hours. The adjacent door was then blocked by a pile of volcanic rocks, making their escape impossible. They died when the pyroclastic flows arrived, a solid mixture of ash and rock blocks mixed with volcanic gas that rushed down the slopes of the volcano at a speed of 200 to 600 km/h. Small bronze, glass and ceramic objects still arranged on the table have been preserved.
“The opportunity to analyse the very valuable anthropological data relating to the two victims (…) allows us to recover a considerable amount of data on the daily life of the ancient Pompeians”said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the park’s director. The Insula de la Regio IX is home to patrician residences with well-preserved wall frescoes. A 15-metre-long banquet hall, decorated with magnificent frescoes inspired by the Trojan War, was recently discovered during these excavations in April 2024.
The Italian government also indicates that new excavations will take place in the areas around Civita Giuliana, the Villa dei Misteri and the ancient Oplontis in Torre Annunziata.
