These plaster outlines preserved the voids left by the bodies giving a glimpse into the tragic destructions that took so many people at once. They let the plaster harden, then chipped away the outer layers of ash, leaving behind a cast of the victims at their time of death. After discovering the air pockets that indicated the presence of human remains in a street dubbed “the Alley of Skeletons”, Fiorelli and his team decided to pour plaster into the voids. It wasn’t until the 18th century excavations that Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli came up with an idea for reconstructing the bodies. When the skin and tissues of these bodies eventually decayed, they left voids in the layer of ash around them in the exact shape of their final moments. Buried 6 metres deep in ash which calcified over the centuries, the bodies of Mount Vesuvius’s victims were preserved in a protective shell of ash. With the sudden ferocity of the eruption which destroyed buildings and monuments, people died almost instantly, as seen by the bodily forms left behind. How are the Body Casts Formed?ĭuring the volcanoes eruption, people were hit by rocks and fallen debris, chocking on gas and fumes, sometimes dying instantly from the heat. Those who didn’t make it out in time are still gazed upon today thanks to the plaster casts that have taken the shape of their bodily forms. This means that the vast majority of the city of 20,000 fled at the first signs of the volcanic activity, making for the sea. About 3/4 of Pompeii’s 165 acres has been excavated, and some 1,150 bodies have been discovered out of an estimated 2,000 thought to have died in the disaster. The layers of calcified ash, which had taken the lives of Pompeii’s citizens, had also preserved them. Miraculously, the two cities were nearly perfectly preserved, lingering on in the same way Mount Vesuvius had left them. Pompeii and its neighbouring village of Herculaneum were only discovered by accident during the construction of King Charles III’s Bourbon’s Palace in 1738. They unearthed artefacts, buildings, as well as human remains. This is not the only volcano that has erupted, but it is the only one to have opened a window to the past. The city’s rediscovery began in the 18th century, with hundreds of archaeologists from all over the world flocking to Pompeii to study the ancient world. Its paved streets would be lined with shops, brothels, fast-food venues and bakeries. Influenced by the Greeks and a popular holiday destination for the Romans, Pompeii was unique in its lustrous lands, bustling market life and trading success. And so the once rich and prosperous city was no more. Pompeii and its small neighbouring village of Herculaneum disappeared. The next morning, the cone of the volcano collapsed, triggering a hundred mile an hour avalanche of mud and ash that flooded Pompeii, destroying everything in its path. The ash rained down on the city, choking its citizens and blinding them in their desperate last-minute attempts to escape. ![]() The mountain spewed ash hundreds of feet into the air for 18 hours straight. ![]() With tremors warning the people of Pompeii prior to the eruption, this roar was the only thing to get people’s attention, but it was too late. The History of PompeiiĪt noon Mount Vesuvius roared. It does transport us though, back in time to the crumbling ruins of Pompeii which began to fall in the morning of August 24th (the exact date is up for debate), resulting in the death of over 2,000 people. This ancient voice reaches out to us as the only eye-witness account of the eruption, and even then, we do not know how accurate the information is. He confides all of this in two letters he writes to a friend which were discovered in the 16th century. Whilst staying with his uncle, Pliny sees the aftermath of the volcano’s eruption, watching its dark black smoke from his uncle’s window. These are the words written by Pliny the Younger, a lawyer, author and magistrate of ancient Rome who offers the only eye-witness account of the Vesuvius’s eruption. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore.” “You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men some were calling for their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognise them by their voices. ![]() But do you know who made these casts? And just how they did it? Who made the plaster casts at Pompeii? You’ve probably seen pictures or have heard of the plaster cast forms of the fallen victims from Mout Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD.
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