Remains of two more victims of the eruption found in Pompeii

Findings continue in the excavation area of ​​Regio IX, Insula 10 of Pompeiwhere archaeological investigations are underway as part of a larger project aimed at securing the excavation fronts. The latest discovery, which has just been published in the E-Journal of Pompeii Excavations a first scientific overview, it is an environment inside which two victims of the eruption were found, a man and a woman. This last one found on the bed brought with it a small treasure with gold, silver and bronze coins, and some jewelry including gold and pearl earrings. The small room, a service area used as a temporary cubicle (bedroom) during the renovation of the house, located behind the already documented Blue Shrine and with access from the large living room decorated in the Second Style, was chosen as a refuge by the two people, waiting for the end of the rain of lapilli that, for hours, had been invading the open spaces in the rest of the house. The space, thanks to the closed frame, remained clear of the pumice stones that instead filled the adjacent living room, effectively blocking the possibility for the two victims to reopen the door and escape.

Trapped in the narrow room, they died when pyroclastic flows arrived. The imprints in the ash allowed us to reconstruct the furnishings and identify their exact position at the time of the eruption: a bed, a chest, a bronze candelabra and a table with a marble top, with the bronze, glass and ceramic furnishings still in place. The excavation project is part of a broader approach, developed in recent years with the aim of improve the protection and hydrogeological structure of the excavation fronts. Based on the data collected in this period, the Archaeological Park is committed to calibrating its approach, placing at the centre the aspects of restoration, protection and accessibility of the heritage and carefully circumscribing the excavation areas within the city buried in 79 AD. At the same time, important ministerial and government investments are destined for new excavations in the surrounding area, from Civita Giuliana to Villa dei Misteri and ancient Oplonti in the Municipality of Annunziata Tower.

«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 data on the daily life of the ancient Pompeians and on the micro stories of some of them, with precise and timely documentation, confirming the uniqueness of the Vesuvian territory. – explains the director of the Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel – A work that sees the collaboration between archaeologists, anthropologists and volcanologists engaged in the reconstruction of the last moments of life of men, women and children who perished during one of the greatest natural disasters of antiquity. Pompeii remains a large research and restoration site, but in the coming years we expect important developments in archaeological excavations and in the valorization of the territory, also thanks to the Cipess investments recently announced by the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano».