Pompeii, remains of two eruption victims emerge from Civita Giuliana excavations

In Pompeii, from the ongoing excavations at Civita Giuliana (about 700 meters northwest of the city, in the area of the suburban villa where the remains of three horses had been found in 2017), the skeletons of two people caught in the fury of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD have been unearthed. As is usual in the case of such finds, archaeologists from the Pompeii Archaeological Park made casts of the two victims of the eruption, who were found in a compartment of the villa’s cryptoporticus, on which investigations are currently focusing. The skeletons were found under a thick layer of hardened ash. Park scholars analyzed the bones and then made a plaster cast of the two bodies, according to the technique perfected in the second half of the 19th century by Giuseppe Fiorelli (Naples, 1823 - 1896), an archaeologist and founder of the Archaeological School of Pompeii.

The cast technique, which has been in use for a century and a half, involves reconstructing the shapes of the bodies and their positions at the time of death: it is possible to do so because the victims of the eruption were covered by pyroclastic material that later hardened, thus forming voids around the victims due to the decomposition of organic matter. Fiorelli guessed that those voids were like “negatives” of the victims at the time of their death, and by filling these voids with plaster or cement it was possible to reconstruct shapes and positions of the victims of the eruption, gaining a great deal of information about the eruption and life in Pompeii at the time. The bodies seen in Pompeii, in short, are not mummified bodies, but simply plaster casts made through this method (and thus it makes no sense to speak of finding “intact bodies”).

The two newly discovered victims were caught during the so-called second pyroclastic current, which in the early morning hours of October 25 invested Pompeii and the surrounding area, leading to the death of the survivors still present in the city and the countryside (and which was preceded by a phase of brief quiet, perhaps of half an hour, during which the survivors both in Pompeii and probably in Civita, came out of their homes in a vain attempt to save themselves). In the case of the compartment being excavated on, it is likely that the pyroclastic current invaded the room from several points encompassing and burying them in ash.

The first victim, found with his head recumbent and his teeth and skull bones visible, appears from initial studies to be a young man between 18 and 23/25 years old, about 156 cm tall. The presence of a series of vertebral crushes, unusual for the young age of the individual, suggests that the boy was doing heavy work, and thus may have been a slave. He was wearing a short tunic (traces of the garment were found), of which the imprint of the drapery is clearly visible on the lower belly, with rich, thick folds, the texture of which together with the traces of heavy fabric, suggest that it was made of woolen fibers.

The second victim, on the other hand, has a completely different position than the first, but it is also attested in other casts in Pompeii: the face is lying in cinerite (the rock created with volcanic ash), at a lower level than the body, and the plaster has precisely outlined the chin, lips and nose, while the bones of the skull are preserved. The arms are folded with the hands on the chest, according to a position attested in other casts, while the legs are spread apart with the knees bent. The sturdiness of the victim, especially at the level of the chest, suggests that he is again a man, older, however, than the other victim, ranging in age from 30 to 40 years and about 162 cm tall. This victim is presented with more articulate clothing than the other, since he is wearing a tunic and a cloak (indeed, under the victim’s neck and near the sternum, where the fabric creates obvious and heavy folds, clearly visible fabric imprints are preserved related to a woolen cloak that was stopped on the left shoulder). A print of a different fabric pertaining to a tunic, which would appear to be long to the pelvic area, was also traced at the upper left arm.

“A very important excavation that of Civita Giuliana,” says Pompeii Archaeological Park director Massimo Osanna, “because it was conducted together with the Torre Annunziata prosecutor’s office to avert clandestine excavations and it returns touching discoveries. These two victims were perhaps seeking refuge in the cryptoporticus, where they were instead swept away by the pyroclastic current at 9 a.m. A death from heat shock, as also evidenced by the contracted limbs, feet, and hands. A death that is an incredible source of knowledge for us today.”

At what point in the eruption did the two men die? To understand this, it is necessary to retrace the phases: from 1 p.m. on Oct. 24 (probably, the exact day of the eruption is not known exactly) until 7 a.m. the next day, Pompeii was subjected to a shower of pumice that fell on the city from the eruptive column. The settling of white pumice lasted seven hours (from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.), while the settling of gray pumice lasted 12 hours (from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.), so in all, the total duration of the pumice fall is about 18 to 19 hours. After the pumice rain, the surviving inhabitants were caught in the first pyroclastic current around 7 a.m. on the morning of October 25. Most Pompeiians who survived the first phase of the eruption certainly survived this first current as well, which did not generate heavy damage to structures. The other currents, beginning with the second, which was more violent and caused the greatest number of casualties in Pompeii, followed during the early morning hours. The second one, in particular, was able to break down walls transverse to the direction of flow. The deposit sedimented by this current is a gray, very compact, well-layered ash containing dispersed pumiceous lapilli. The deposits that fill the environment in which the two casts were made at the Civita Giuliana site are entirely represented by gray ash having the same characteristics as the cineritic deposits in which most of the victims were found within the walls of Pompeii (deposits of the second pyroclastic current). It is likely that the pyroclastic current invaded the environment from several points, encompassing and burying the victims in ash. The thickness (at least 2 m) is also consistent with the maximum thickness of this unit within the buildings of Pompeii. The casts are entirely encased in ash, so the victims were killed and buried by the very second pyroclastic current that arrived in Pompeii.

At the moment, technicians working on the excavation make known, it is not possible to say whether there are other stratigraphic units below this deposit related to other phases of the eruption or whether the ash rests directly on the bottom of the room (floor, stairs or ramp). Continued excavation will clarify the stratigraphy in detail.

Pictured are the casts of the two victims. Ph. Credit Luigi Spina

Pompeii, remains of two eruption victims emerge from Civita Giuliana excavations

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.