Skeletons of man, woman clutching coins found in ‘invaluable’ discovery at Pompeii site
It’s a bone-chilling discovery.
Archeologists at Pompeii have recovered well-preserved skeletal remains of a man and woman who died clutching treasures of the time.
The woman was found on a bed surrounded by gold, silver and bronze coins, along with jewelry that included pearl and gold earrings, and the man was not far from her.
Archeological Park Director Gabriel Zuchtriegel called the recent finding in the ancient city lost to a volcanic eruption in Mount Vesivius’s Region IX — where several rare treasures were recently found — “invaluable.”
It leads to a better understanding of day-to-day life circa 79 AD.
He said the discovery “allows us to recover a considerable amount of information about the daily life of the ancient Pompeiians and the micro-histories of some of them, with precise and timely documentation, confirming the uniqueness of the Vesuvian territory.”
The preserved pair was recovered in a service area temporarily used as a cubiculo (bedroom) while the home was under renovation.
They sought shelter there to protect themselves from falling pumice that had been bombarding open spaces around their home.
Due to closed doorways, the small room had been free from flying debris, unlike much of the property.
However, volcanic rock filled adjacent rooms and blocked the victims’ route of escape, and they were gruesomely killed by the “pyroclastic flow” that engulfed the city, according to the scientists.
Experts also determined that the room contained a wooden bed, chest, stool, bronze candelabrum,and a marble-top table.
The latter was on top of bronze, glass, and ceramic objects.
Zuchtriegel said that experts will now “work together to reconstruct the last moments of the lives of men, women and children who perished during one of the greatest natural catastrophes of antiquity.”
