The great Vesuvius eruption was around 2000 years ago. In Ercolano, researchers are still looking for skeletons from this period. Now you have found what you are looking for again.
Ercolano – It is probably the most famous volcanic eruption in history: the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed. Archaeologists in southern Italy * have now made a spectacular find. The researchers have come across the skeleton of a man from ancient times who was killed in the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Italy: Spectacular skeleton find – man died in ancient Vesuvius eruption
“A find from which we expect a lot,” said the director of the Ercolano archeology park south of Naples, Francesco Sirano, to the Ansa news agency. Accordingly, the discovery should shed light on the last moments of the sunken city of Herculaneum, which in ancient times was where Ercolano is today.
The experts found the skeleton in a place where it was last dug around 25 years ago. At that time, the remains of more than 300 people were found where the sandy beach was in antiquity. They are said to have sought protection in small camps there and waited for the fleet of the Roman officer Pliny the Elder to bring them to safety.
Italy: Vesuvius skeleton lay with its head towards the sea
The man’s skeleton was found with the head towards the sea, Sirano said in a video published by Ansa. He was probably between 40 and 45 years old. The researchers believe that he was knocked over by the scorching cloud of ash while he was trying to escape. Because he fell backwards, he might have seen the ash cloud rushing towards him.
The researchers are still puzzling who the man could have been. There are already many guesses. Sirano stated, according to Ansa, that he could have been a helper in Pliny’s fleet or belonged to the group of those fleeing and moved away from it in order to reach one of the lifeboats on the sea. The archaeologists now want to move a large chunk of lava rock with the skeleton in it to a laboratory for further investigations.
For around four weeks, a volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of La Palma * has caused major damage. Thousands of people have had to be evacuated so far. In Italy, too, a volcano threatens to erupt again after more than 130 years *. (ph / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
Picture list: © Ciro Fusco via www.imago-images.de
