Latest bodies found in Pompeii ruins show deaths weren't all caused by Vesuvius, researchers say

The discovery of two skeletons at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii is giving archaeologists more clarity on the “the hell” that ensued when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2000 years ago.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii archaeological park, said in a statement Tuesday that the advancement of excavation techniques and methodology used at the ruins —  which were discovered in the 16th century and first excavated in 1748 — can  pinpoint deaths down to the final seconds and help shed light on “the inferno that destroyed the city in two days.”

The ​skeletons show that deaths were not just  a result of the eruption in A.D. 79, but from earthquakes that were followed by it. 

Earthquakes that accompanied the eruption likely damaged the two walls, causing the south wall of the room to collapse and crush one of the men “whose raised arm offers a tragic image of his vain attempt to protect himself from the falling masonry.”

“In recent years, we have realized there were violent, powerful seismic events that were happening at the time of the eruption,” Zuchtriegel said. “The discovery is very grounding as they are effectively digging up human beings … human mortality is so fragile.”