The appearance of a man who died during the eruption of Vesuvius was able to recover from the skull

When we hear Vesuvius, we immediately imagine a city buried under the lava and ash of the volcano. The eruption occurred in 79 A.D. and became one of the most powerful disasters that a person experienced in its history. But the ashes also preserved for scientists a lot of the way people of that time, which allows us to draw conclusions about what they were. For example, recently an international group of researchers was able to restore the facial features of one of the victims of Vesuvius.

Bit by bit

Everyone knows that the ancient Roman city of Pompeii died from the eruption of Vesuvius. But along with it, two more smaller cities also suffered: Herculaneum and Stabia. In Herculaneum found the remains of more than 300 dead citizens. All their skulls had to be collected from small fragments: they collapsed due to high temperature. One of the best-preserved skulls was chosen for reconstruction. It was the skull of a man who died around the age of 50.

To make a 3D model, it took about 150 photographs of the skull from different angles. After that, the experts made a “sketch” of the portrait — exemplary features of a male face based on an assessment of the shape and size of an object from a photograph. In this they were helped by medical computer programs that create 3D models of the human body.

Next - Pompeii

The next stage is the study of studies on the structure of faces, thickness and shape of the skin of modern Europeans of about the same age as a man. The resulting “catalog” made it possible, on the basis of the bone structure, to suggest what the face of the deceased in Herculaneum could be. The nose could be recreated according to the structure of the nasal bone, and the teeth - according to the models of skulls with similar parameters.

Photo: Caters News / Cicero Moraes

Of course, the resulting portrait cannot be called absolutely accurate. Modern technology is not yet so perfect. But in any case, this is an important step in studying the past of humanity. The next goal of the research team should be to restore the face of a resident of Pompeii.