Recent evidence indicates that some of the individuals interred in Pompeii after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius have been inaccurately categorized.
Investigators applied DNA analysis to 14 casts of victims discovered within the remnants of the Roman city obliterated in 79 AD.
By utilizing DNA extracted from shattered skeletal remains, they determined that an adult who was cradling a child and adorned with a golden bracelet—previously believed to be a mother—was, in fact, a man with no relation to the child.
This revelation was one of several unexpected findings in what has been referred to as “the house of the golden bracelet”.
Adjacent to this scene were the remains of another adult and child, presumed to comprise the rest of a nuclear family.
However, DNA results indicated that all four individuals were male and not biologically connected.
Pompeii, a buried and devastated Roman city, is located near modern Naples. File pic: AP
Alissa Mittnik from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany remarked that this demonstrates how “the narrative that was long associated with these individuals” was erroneous.
Mittnik stated: “We have managed to refute or question several of the earlier narratives constructed based on the way these individuals were found in proximity to one another.
“This presents alternative interpretations regarding the identities of these individuals.”
Another revelation revealed that at least one of the two individuals entwined in an embrace—previously believed to be sisters or a mother and daughter—was actually a male.
Victims enveloped in ash in Pompeii. File pic: iStock
Researchers have also identified that inhabitants of Pompeii hailed from a variety of backgrounds, primarily descending from eastern Mediterranean immigrants. This underscores the degree of mobility and the multicultural fabric of the Roman Empire.
In the aftermath of the catastrophe, bodies encased in mud and ash gradually decomposed, resulting in voids where they once resided.
Plaster casts were made from these voids in the late 1800s.
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The researchers concentrated on 14 casts currently undergoing restoration and aimed to employ genetic material preserved for nearly two millennia to ascertain the sex, lineage, and genetic affiliations among the victims.
The team, including experts from Harvard University and the University of Florence in Italy, published their findings on Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
