Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of two men in the ancient Italian city of Pompeii – a master and his slave – who apparently escaped the eruption of Mount Vesuvius about 2,000 years ago.
Men’s skulls and bone fragments were found next to each other during excavations of a once-magnificent villa with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea, Italian officials announced Saturday.
Scientists believe the pair survived the initial ashes and died the next morning, when another powerful explosion buried them in more than 6 feet of ash, according to an Associated Press report.
The house was on the seam of the ancient Roman city, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD AD. There is a stable nearby, where the remains of three riding horses were found in 2017.
One man was probably between the ages of 18 and 25, and he had a compressed spinal disc, indicating that he had done the labor himself. The impression of the fabric folds in the ash layer indicates that he wore a short, happy tunic.
The other man was 30 to 40 years old and had a strong bone structure. He had a tunic as well as a mantle over his left shoulder.
Archaeologists poured liquid chalk into the cavities left by the body into the ash and pumice that broke the upper layer of the villa. This technique gives an image of the shape and location of the victims in the throat of death, making the remains look like statues.
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