Archeologists unearthed two more victims of the famed 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption that engulfed the Roman city of Pompeii, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced in a Monday press release.
The ancient Pompeian residents were found in the same room and identified as a man and woman, the press release says.
Archeologists discovered the female on a bed with a small treasure trove of “gold, silver and bronze coins, and some jewelry including gold and pearl earrings.”
The two people were eventually trying to outlast the rain of droplets of molten or semi-molten lava caused by the volcanic eruption. Instead, the sky-fallen lava filled the spaces of the house and trapped the two in a small room, the Ministry of Culture noted. The two perished when the “pyroclastic flows” from the volcano arrived. (RELATED: Scientists Reveal Newly Legible Pompeii Scrolls, Unread For Almost 2,000 Years. Is History About To Blow Up?)
Archeologists were able to reconstruct “the furnishings and identify their [the deceased] exact position at the time of the eruption” due to the “imprints in the ash,” the Ministry of Culture said.
“The opportunity to analyze the invaluable anthropological data relating to the two victims found within the archaeological context that marked their tragic end, allows us to recover a significant amount of data on the daily life of the ancient Pompeians and on the micro stories of some of them, with precise and timely documentation, confirming the uniqueness of the Vesuvian territory,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the Director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, said.
Footage of the find and skeletons of the deceased Pompeians were shared on social media.
#archéologie : deux nouvelles victimes découvertes à Pompeï , Region IX, Insula 10 : un homme et une femme qui s’étaient réfugiés dans une petite chambre où du mobilier a été mis au jour. Avec eux quelques aureus, monnaies d’or et la femme avait encore sur elle des boucles… pic.twitter.com/Kok6D3SMJM
— Lucius Gellius Publicola 🏺 (@Lucius_Gellius) August 12, 2024
The same volcanic ash that wrought death and destruction to Pompeii also helped preserve the site from the elements, according to National Geographic. Treasure hunters and archeologists have been attracted to the site since its rediscovery in the 18th century.
