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4 hours ago
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Heartbreaking new detail has emerged from a study of victims at Pompeii – the Italian city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago.
Experts at the University of Valencia reveal victims wore heavy tunics and woollen cloaks as they fled rocky volcanic fragments and gas thrown into the air.
The somber findings suggest the apparel were intended as a last minute protection against the fiery shower that crushed buildings and residents.
But they also give credence to the belief that the famous eruption took place not in August but in October when conditions were cooler.
Study leader Llorenç Alapont, a professor of archaeology at the University of Valencia, said it's possible Pompeii was having 'colder-than-normal weather'.
'But [it was] also a day with harmful conditions from which they needed protection,' he said.
What month the eruption of Mount Vesuvius occurred in AD 79 is described as 'one of the most debated topics in the history of ancient Pompeii'.
What's less in doubt is its destructive power, shattering the settlements of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Torre Annunziata and Stabiae, and killing up to 16,000 in the process.
After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD eruption, bodies of the victims at Pompeii were preserved in a protective shell of ash before they eventually decayed - but the voids that these bodies left behind were filled with plaster casts to recreate their final moments (pictured) Pictured, Professor study leader Llorenç Alapont with the Pompeii casts
It's thought Mount Vesuvius' plume of ash and gas reached 21 miles (34km) in height, more than triple the cruising altitude of most commercial jets.
Scalding-hot currents of matter vaporised inhabitants and even turned human tissue into glass in a process known as vitrification.
After the eruption, bodies of the victims at Pompeii were famously preserved in a protective shell of ash before they eventually decayed.
Since the mid 1800s, the voids that the bodies left behind were eventually filled with plaster casts to recreate their final moments.
For this study, Professor Alapont analysed the patterns of the fabrics in 14 of the plaster casts of the victims of Pompeii.
The casts analysed were found in Pompeii's Porta Nola Necropolis in 1975.
'From a study of the casts, we can learn how people dressed on a specific day in history,' Professor Alapont said.
'We can also determine the type of fabric they wore and the weave of the threads, which in this case is thick.'
Nearly 2,000 years ago, victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption wore tunics and woollen cloaks, and that this wool, due to the way it was woven, was very heavy
Plaster casts at Pompeii - now a site flocked to by tourists - capture the victims in their heartbreaking final moments nearly 2,000 years ago
When did the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius occur?
Historians have traditionally dated the disaster to August 24th, largely based on letters from eyewitness Pliny the Younger.
However, previous excavations have uncovered a calcified branch bearing berries that normally only come out in autumn.
The discovery of some braziers over the years also suggested the disaster did not strike at the height of summer.
An inscription on a wall of the excavations of Pompeii also suggests a date of October.
Of the 14 casts, in four of them it was possible to identify the type of clothing and how it was woven – 'clearly from heavy wool'.
According to the academic, most of the victims wore two pieces – a tunic and a cloak, both made of wool, which was a popular and economical fabric at the time.
He explains that it could have been worn to 'protect them from the gases or the ambient heat caused by the volcanic eruption'.
However, the woollen coats also suggest the possibility of cold weather at the time, perhaps not typical of southern Europe in August.
The presence of autumn fruits, stoves with embers in the houses, and fermenting wine in dolia (clay vessels similar to amphorae) also suggests that the eruption could have been in autumn.
The date of the eruption of Vesuvius is still debated, although the most widely accepted hypothesis is that it occurred on August 24, 79 AD.
This is largely based on the writings of Pliny the Younger, the Roman administrator who vividly described the eruption in a series of letters.
Pliny the Younger, who was just 17 years old at the time of the disaster, was stationed in Misenum, across the Bay of Naples.
After the eruption, bodies of the victims at Pompeii were famously preserved in a protective shell of ash before they eventually decayed. Since the mid 1800s, the voids that these bodies left behind were eventually filled with plaster casts to recreate their final moments (pictured)
Artist's depiction of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii. The ancient Roman city was about six miles away from the volcano
He had observed an umbrella-like cloud looming over Mount Vesuvius around 1pm – the vertical plume of ash known as the 'eruption column'.
The study also determined that casts from both inside and outside Pompeii's houses had the same fabric patterns – suggesting people wore the same clothes both indoors and outdoors.
Professor Alapont calls for new methodologies and further studies to reveal the circumstances of the eruption of Vesuvius.
The results have been presented at the International Congress on the Date of the Eruption of Vesuvius and are not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.
How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago
What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge.
Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C.
An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance.
Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century.
His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow
He said that a column of smoke 'like an umbrella pine' rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night.
People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.
While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano's column to collapse.
An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life.
Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano
As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge.
While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be 'exceptional' and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000.
What have they found?
This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later.
The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city.
In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues.
A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day
Some of the balconies even had amphorae - the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.
The discovery has been hailed as a 'complete novelty' - and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.
Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble.
Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day.
