Archaeology News: Skeleton Family Killed By Vesuvius Found Huddled Together In Pompeii
Ciro Fusco/ANSA via APThe skeletal remains found at the Pompeii archaeological site.
Even after nearly 2,000 years, the ruins of the great city of Pompeii continue to serve as a treasure trove for archaeologists and archaeology news headlines. The latest discovery was of the remains of a family who were huddled together when they lost their lives in the deadly Vesuvius eruption of 79 A.D.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA, new excavations at the site uncovered the skeletal remains of five people — two women and three children — who were taking shelter from the deadly eruption.
Massimo Osanna, the director of the Pompeii archaeological site, told the Telegraph that the family had huddled together in a small room to protect themselves and shoved a piece of furniture against the door.
“The place where they took shelter must have seemed safe,” he explained. “They were crushed by the roof when it collapsed, or burned by the pyroclastic cloud, or perhaps a combination of both those things.”
Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP
The skeletons were found undisturbed in the small room, which was shocking to archaeologists because the area had been ravaged by a series of looters in the years before official excavation began.
According to the Telegraph, the team also found a 17th-century coin not far from the small room in which the skeletons were found. This suggests that while the family’s bodies were not disturbed by looters that the rest of the villa must have been rifled through by tomb raiders.
“It’s a shocking discovery, but also very important for the history of studies,” Osanna said.
Pompeii is currently undergoing a massive excavation project that is the most intensive that the area has seen since the 1950s. The site has been excavated on and off since 1748, but a third of the city still remains unexplored — leaving us waiting for more startling archaeology news in 2019.
