{"id":6774,"date":"2025-07-03T08:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T06:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seepompeii.com\/i-corpi-di-pompei-cosa-ci-raccontano\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:15:16","slug":"pompeiis-bodies-what-they-tell-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seepompeii.com\/en\/pompeiis-bodies-what-they-tell-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Pompeii’s bodies what they tell us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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What do the bodies excavated in Pompeii,<\/strong> or rather the casts made in Pompeii, tell us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well yes, because the bodies found there and interpreted by many as bodies petrified by the lava of Vesuvius,<\/strong> are actually plaster casts<\/strong> <\/a>made by archaeologists during their discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let’s reconstruct everything calmly, trying to understand what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pompeii, as many people know, was destroyed by a very violent eruption of the explosive type of Vesuvius in 79 AD, recounted in the letters of Pliny the Younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eruption lasted approximately three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day Pompeii was completely submerged with about 3 meters of ash and lapilli, which entirely covered the city. During this eruptive phase, numerous inhabitants who had not left the city in time died. Either trapped in the environments invaded by pumice and lapilli or run over by the collapses of the roofs of their houses caused by the weight of the eruptive material. Only skeletons were found of these victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the second day it seemed that the eruption had stopped, but it suddenly resumed with the arrival of the powerful pyroclastic flow. Precisely Pompeii was hit with 6 waves of pyroclastic flow,<\/strong> which caused death and devastation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow characterized by ash, 400\u00b0 water vapor, and gas overwhelmed all the cities on the slopes of Vesuvius including Pompeii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this phase the Pompeians who could not initially escape were overwhelmed by the flow remaining imprisoned forever there in that place. In the exact location where they found death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was as a result of the ash that compacted around their bodies leaving the perfect imprint after decomposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dynamic of the eruption that particularly affected Pompeii, unlike the other Vesuvian cities, made possible the creation of the famous Pompeii casts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to find casts in Pompeii and how were they made? Find out in our article, click on the link: CASTS OF POMPEII.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revolution in the history of victims<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casts were first made on human bodies by Giuseppe Fiorelli in 1863.<\/strong> The archaeologist managed to make approximately 100 casts of people, many of which were destroyed during the bombings of World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to them it has been possible to reconstruct part of the history of the inhabitants of Pompeii, but a recent analysis performed on these remains has completely revolutionized their history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, an international research team examined the bone remains trapped in the plaster using minimally invasive techniques on 14 of the 86 casts at the site. But only on 5 bodies could accurate data be obtained,<\/strong> this was because of the plaster that had invaded the organic elements of the bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation<\/strong>, made it possible to accurately identify the genetic relationships and sex of these men, women and children, arriving at a sensational discovery<\/strong>. And disproving the considerations that had been made to date about these bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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