Skeletons found in the ruins of Pompeii reveal the deaths caused by the earthquake

[ad_1]

Archaeologists have discovered two more skeletons buried under a collapsed wall at the archaeological site of Pompeii, experts said Tuesday. They believe the new finds are the remains of male victims likely killed in the powerful earthquakes that accompanied the devastating volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which buried the Italian city in ashes in the first century.

The two skeletons, believed to be men at least 55 years old, were found in the Casti Amanti, or House of Chaste Lovers – where the colorful frescoes and skeletons of mules who worked millstones for grain in the past were discovered under the wall before it collapsed. Covering the area with volcanic material. The area was likely to be undergoing reconstruction work at the time of the eruption in AD 79, after the earthquake a few days earlier.

The Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement that the newly discovered victims “most likely died due to multiple injuries caused by the collapse of part of the building.”

The skeletons were found lying on their side with their legs twisted, and one of them was wearing a ring on his left hand. The photo, made available on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, by the Pompeii Archaeological Park Press Office, shows one of the skeletons that archaeologists believe are the remains of men who died when a wall collapsed during the earthquakes that accompanied the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Pompeii Archaeological Park via AP

“In recent years, we have realized that violent and powerful seismic events were occurring at the time of the eruption,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegl, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

He added that new archaeological techniques and methodologies “allow us to better understand the inferno that completely destroyed the city of Pompeii in two days, killing many residents,” making it possible to determine the dynamics of mortality down to the last seconds.

More than 1,300 victims have been found at the archaeological site south of Naples over the past 250 years. Recently, in November 2020, archaeologists discovered two bodies believed to be the remains of an enslaved youth and his possible owner.

Archaeologists estimate that 15% to 20% of Pompeii’s population died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, mostly from heat shock as a giant cloud of gases and ash enveloped the city.

Earthquakes before and during the eruption, as documented in the Letters of the Roman author Pliny the Younger, also took their toll.

“Among the causes of death, the collapse of buildings, in some cases caused by earthquakes that accompanied the explosion, was a mortal threat,” the park said. Two skeletons were found lying on their sides at Casti Amanti during recent excavations of the ancient city of Pompeii.

Pompeii Archaeological Park via AP

Modern technology helps archaeologists “understand the inferno that completely destroyed the city of Pompeii in two days, killing many inhabitants: children, women and men,” said the director of Pompeii, Gabriel Zustegregl.

Traces of what is believed to be a bundle of cloth were found next to one of the victims, containing necklace beads and coins.

Inside the room was an amphora and a collection of bowls and jugs, while the next room contained a household shrine in the form of a fresco, and a narrow bathroom with a toilet.

In the room where the men were found, part of a wall collapsed, injuring one of the victims “whose raised arm probably alludes to the tragic image of a vain attempt to protect himself from falling”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[ad_2]