NAPLES, ITALY—Massimo Osanna, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, announced the discovery of the remains of two men lying close to get her in a villa corridor on the outskirts of the ancient city, according to a BBC News report. In 2017, the remains of three harnessed horses were discovered in a stable at the same villa, he added. The younger of the two men is estimated to have been between the ages of 18 and 25 at the time of his death. He had several compressed vertebrae, which suggests he carried heavy loads and may have been a manual laborer or slave. Plaster casts of the impressions left by the bodies in the ash indicate that he was wearing a pleated tunic. The other man, who was also wearing a tunic, was between the ages of 30 and 40. His bones are more robust, the researchers explained. The men may have been a master and slave who escaped the initial eruption of Mt. Vesuvius but were then killed by a blast the next day. “It is a death by thermal shock, as also demonstrated by their clenched feet and hands,” Osanna said. To read about plaster casts of individuals who perished at the city's Nola Gate, go to "Digging Deeper Into Pompeii's Past: Death."
