• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Two New Victims Of Vesuvius Crushed By Falling Wall Discovered at Pompeii

May 17, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Two new skeletons of men who perished at Pompeii have been uncovered, adding to the victims of the fateful Vesuvius eruption. Found crushed underneath an ancient Roman wall, it looks like this pair died as a result of the accompanying earthquakes that rocked the city as the volcanic hellstorm raged. 

The latest two victims were discovered during recent excavations of the Insula dei Casti Amanti at the Pompeii Archaeological Park, just south of Naples on the Italian coast. They were found under what is thought to be a wall that collapsed due to an eruption-related earthquake.  

Advertisement

Archeologists on the project believe the skeletons belonged to two male individuals aged at least 55 years old. Alongside their bones were a small collection of artifacts, including bronze and silver coins, as well as five glassy objects that were perhaps beads on a necklace. They also found traces of organic material, which they suspect was a bundle of cloth.

We can only imagine the story behind this pair – friends, brothers, colleagues, or lovers – but we do know a little about their tragic death. The researchers suspect that they died side by side from trauma due to the powerful earthquakes that accompanied the devastating volcanic eruption.

Two Roman skeletons found at Pompeii who died during volcanic eruption and earthquake.

The victims, found side by side, appear to have died together. Image courtesy of Pompeii Archaeological Park

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii was decimated in 79 CE when the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted, killing thousands of people in the city and nearby settlements of Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae.

Researchers now think the notorious eruption started in the morning following a series of small tremors that went largely unnoticed by the locals. Around lunchtime came the Plinian phase when a giant eruptive column formed, ejecting volcanic rock and hot gases high into the stratosphere. 

Advertisement

In turn, this debris eventually fell to the ground below, bombarding the buildings for hours like the shelling of a war-torn city. Throughout this, earthquakes shook the city, contributing to the fatalities. 

Following this initial Plinian phase, a series of pyroclastic currents of rocky deposits flew down the side of the volcano and flooded the city with hot gas and volcanic matter. It’s estimated that at least 15 to 20 percent of the city’s population died during this grueling stage, killing them through asphyxiation by a stream of scorching ash and gas.

After around two days of violent volcanic activity, the debris had totally engulfed the city and its inhabitants, leaving them covered in a huge mound of debris that lay undisturbed for over 1,000 years. 



Advertisement

Beyond forensic volcanology, the researchers wanted to stress how the latest discovery sheds light on the human dimension of the tragedy – something that is all too often forgotten when looking at ancient remains. 

“Modern excavation techniques help us to better understand the hell that completely destroyed the city of Pompeii in two days, killing many inhabitants: children, women, and men. With analyses and methodologies, we are able to get closer to the last moments of those who lost their life,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, in a statement sent to IFLScience. 

“During the recovery of the two skeletons, one of the archaeologists pointed to the victims we were excavating and said a sentence that has stuck with me – and that perhaps summarizes the history of Pompeii – when he declared: ‘this is us’,” added Zuchtriegel. “At Pompeii, the advancement of techniques never makes us forget the human dimension of the tragedy, rather it makes us see it more clearly.”

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Italian film brings circus freaks to Venice festival
  2. Soccer – Too many meaningless matches not good for the international game, says FIFA president Infantino
  3. Former F1 driver Rosberg, Agnelli’s Exor invest in adopt-a-tree site Treedom
  4. Peru community says it won’t end Glencore mine blockade until demands met

Source Link: Two New Victims Of Vesuvius Crushed By Falling Wall Discovered at Pompeii

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • The World’s Oldest Known Cake Is Over 4,000 Years Old, And It Sounds Pretty Delicious
  • An Ominous Haze Lurks Over The Deadliest Volcano In US, But USGS Says A Repeat Of 1980 Isn’t Coming
  • Hayabusa2’s Target Asteroid Is 4 Times Smaller Than Thought – Can It Still Touch Down On It?
  • In 2011, Slavc The Wolf Journeyed 1,000 Miles To Begin Verona’s First Wolf Pack In 100 Years
  • Anyone Know What These Marine “Y-Larvae” Grow Into? Because Scientists Have No Clue
  • C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) Closest Earth Approach Is Next Month – Will We See It With The Naked Eye?
  • In 2013, A Volcanic Eruption Wiped Out Life On This Remote Island. Then, Somehow, Plants Reemerged
  • 1-Year-Old Orca Takes Out A Big Fat Seal In This Award-Winning – And Extremely Badass – Photo
  • Saturn And Neptune Will Reach Their Brightest In Days – And Look For Saturn’s Temporary Beauty Spot
  • Reindeer Bring A Gift Greater Than Any Of Santa’s – Hope Of A Stable Climate
  • If Deep-Sea Pressure Can Crush A Human Body, How Do Deep-Sea Creatures Not Implode?
  • Meet Ned: The Lonely Lefty Snail Looking For Love
  • “America Will Lead The Next Giant Leap”: NASA Announces New Milestone In Hunt For Exoplanets
  • What Did Neanderthals Sound Like?
  • One Star System Could Soon Dazzle Us Twice With Nova And Supernova Explosions
  • Unethical Experiments: When Scientists Really Should Have Stopped What They Were Doing Immediately
  • The First Humans Were Hunted By Leopards And Weren’t The Apex Predators We Thought They Were
  • Earth’s Passage Through The Galaxy Might Be Written In Its Rocks
  • What Is An Einstein Cross – And Why Is The Latest One Such A Unique Find?
  • If We Found Life On Mars, What Would That Mean For The Fermi Paradox And The Great Filter?
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version