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Omaha Steve

(99,632 posts)
Sat Nov 21, 2020, 03:01 PM Nov 2020

Bodies of man and his slave unearthed from ashes at Pompeii

Source: AP

By FRANCES D'EMILIO

ROME (AP) — Skeletal remains of what are believed to have been a rich man and his male slave attempting to escape death from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago have been discovered in Pompeii, officials at the archaeological park in Italy said Saturday.

Parts of the skulls and bones of the two men were found during excavation of the ruins from what was once an elegant villa with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea on the outskirts of the ancient Roman city destroyed by the volcano eruption in 79 A.D. It’s the same area where a stable with the remains of three harnessed horses were excavated in 2017.

Pompeii officials said the men apparently escaped the initial fall of ash from Mount Vesuvius then succumbed to a powerful volcanic blast that took place the next morning. The later blast “apparently invaded the area from many points, surrounding and burying the victims in ash,” Pompeii officials said in a statement.

The remains of the two victims, lying next to each other on their backs, were found in a layer of gray ash at least 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep, they said.



The casts of what are believed to have been a rich man and his male slave fleeing the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, are seen in what was an elegant villa on the outskirts of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii destroyed by the eruption in 79 A.D., where they were discovered during recents excavations, Pompeii archaeological park officials said Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. (Parco Archeologico di Pompei via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-volcanic-eruptions-37e83ba403c7bbd871c6c33c57c0a051

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Bodies of man and his slave unearthed from ashes at Pompeii (Original Post) Omaha Steve Nov 2020 OP
Amazing that bodies can be so well preserved in ash like that....n/t dixiegrrrrl Nov 2020 #1
Actually... Archae Nov 2020 #3
Ahhh.....I see. dixiegrrrrl Nov 2020 #9
Super cool nt leftofthestorm Nov 2020 #2
Wow, amazing! nt iluvtennis Nov 2020 #4
One of the saddest casts at Pompeii is of the big dog. sinkingfeeling Nov 2020 #5
Th master was probably saying the volcano is fake news..... getagrip_already Nov 2020 #6
Our visit there with our sons was unforgettable, haunting, amazing. They had been FailureToCommunicate Nov 2020 #7
Bring out the gim...oh shit. ret5hd Nov 2020 #8
Were they incinerated alive by the hot ash? Or did they asphyxiate first... NurseJackie Nov 2020 #10

Archae

(46,327 posts)
3. Actually...
Sat Nov 21, 2020, 03:18 PM
Nov 2020

The bodies, except for the bones usually rot away quickly.

What you are seeing is plaster, poured into the hollow of the packed ash, preserves the shape of the bodies rather well.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
9. Ahhh.....I see.
Sun Nov 22, 2020, 12:42 PM
Nov 2020


Still, a haunting image, much like the shadows of people on walls that the atomic bombs burned in
at Hiroshima.

getagrip_already

(14,750 posts)
6. Th master was probably saying the volcano is fake news.....
Sat Nov 21, 2020, 08:17 PM
Nov 2020

And forced the slave to take him shopping.

Otherwise the slave dude would have been safe far, far, away.

FailureToCommunicate

(14,014 posts)
7. Our visit there with our sons was unforgettable, haunting, amazing. They had been
Sat Nov 21, 2020, 08:18 PM
Nov 2020

learning latin using the Cambridge Latin textbook, that was part diary from some members of a family that survived.

The son, Quintus, and perhaps a slave, happened to be out riding horses that day and were lucky to have ridden in the direction that did

not get the terrible rain of ash and stones...

They had kept a diary, and continued noting in it after moving away from the region.

We actually found that family's villa, on a back street, recently excavated, away from the usual tourist areas. Their family name, in

mosaic over their door, read "Caecilius"

Amazing connection to the distant past and that terrible calamity .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Caecilius_Iucundus

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
10. Were they incinerated alive by the hot ash? Or did they asphyxiate first...
Sun Nov 22, 2020, 04:27 PM
Nov 2020

... before they were covered and preserved. This is all very grim... but it's still fascinating to see that this moment in time was captured and preserved for so long. Amazing.

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