In the year 79 AD, Vesuvius suffered one of its most serious eruptions, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under a thick layer of pebbles and ash, technically called lapilli. Many of the inhabitants of Pompeii lost their lives when their houses collapsed under the weight of lapilli raining from the sky. Those who survived the initial phase of the eruption succumbed to the dangerous pyroclastic flows. This rapid flow of hot gas and volcanic matter instantly shrouded their bodies in a solid layer of ash, effectively preserving the shape of their bodies, including detailed features.
As the flesh decayed, leaving only the bones, the spaces left by the missing flesh retained morphological details. After the archaeological discovery of these remains, it was possible, by filling these gaps with plaster, to obtain what could be defined as rubbings, casts, casts or statues, which faithfully reproduce the bodies of the people as they were at the moment of death, and also the their postures and expressions. This practice began to be implemented in the 19th century. The authors of a new study extracted DNA from highly fragmented skeletal remains embedded in 14 of 86 famous casts undergoing restoration. This extraction process allowed them to precisely establish genetic relationships, determine sex and trace ancestry.
The study is the work of a team that includes, among others, Elena Pilli, of the University of Florence in Italy, and Alissa Mittnik, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.
Unexpectedly, the results of the DNA analyzes largely contradicted previous hypotheses based solely on the physical appearance and location of the bodies.
For example, in one house, the only one for which there is genetic information from multiple individuals, the four people who were traditionally believed to be a couple with their children turned out to have no genetic links to each other.
Another case is that of an adult wearing a gold bracelet and holding a child in his arms. They were believed to be a mother and her child, but are now revealed to be an unrelated adult male and child.
Genetic data from the new study also provided information on Pompeian ancestry. It turns out that they were mostly descended from recent immigrants from the eastern Mediterranean lands. This highlights the cosmopolitan character of the Roman Empire.
The study is titled “Ancient DNA Challenges Prevailing Interpretations of Pompeii Plaster Casts.” And it was published in the academic journal Current Biology. (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)