ROME, ITALY—According to a CNN report, skeletal remains of a man and a woman have been found in a small bedroom in a large house that was being renovated in Region IX of Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. A large living area decorated with frescoes and a room with blue walls thought to have been used as a shrine have also been recently unearthed in the home. The woman, whose remains were discovered on a wooden bed, was holding gold, silver, and bronze coins and a pair of gold and pearl earrings when the two perished. The room also contained a stool, a chest, and a marble-topped table. Bronze, glass, and ceramic objects were placed on the table, and a bronze candelabrum was found on the floor. Archaeologists suggest that the couple chose the room as a refuge from the volcano’s falling pumice, which filled the open spaces in the rest of the house. Although the closed door kept the pumice out of the bedroom, the two were eventually trapped by the accumulated debris. To read about another recent discovery on the same city block, go to “Pompeian Politics.”
