The Italian Ministry of Culture announced, on Tuesday, the discovery of two new skeletons in the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii, which was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79.
The skeletons recently discovered during maintenance work at the “House of the Chaste Lovers” may have been of two men in their fifties.
A press release issued by the ministry states that there are “multiple fractures resulting from the collapse of the building”.
According to archaeologists, the inhabitants of Pompeii died not only due to the eruption of Vesuvius, which led to pyroclastic flows and a large fallout of volcanic ash, but also because of the accompanying earthquake, which caused the collapse of many buildings.
“Modern excavation techniques help us understand the inferno that completely destroyed the city of Pompeii in two days, killing many residents,” Gabriel Zuchtregel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, said in the press release.
Volcanic ash was deposited 2,000 years ago by Vesuvius on most of Pompeii’s homes, allowing it to be preserved almost entirely, as well as many of the 3,000 bodies of those who died from the cataclysm.
Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second most visited tourist destination in Italy after the Colosseum in Rome.
