A new study published in the journal Current Biologycreated by a research group Italian-American with the participation of scholars from the universities of Harvard, Florence and other European and American institutes, examined the Ancient DNA present in bone inside the casts of the victims oferuption of Vesuvius in 79 AD to Pompeii. It has emerged that the traditional interpretation attributed to some casts must be completely revised in light of the new genetic data. Some individuals believed to belong to a single family unit, for example, turned out to have no kinship between them, just as remains believed to belong to women were instead found to belong to men; finally, various remains can be attributed to people of African or Middle Eastern origin.
What are the Pompeii casts
THE casts of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius they are not petrified bodiesbut they are made in plaster. They were obtained by pouring a mixture of water and chalk inside the empty cavities (with the exception of the bones) that were created in the layer of pumice and ash once the soft tissues of the victims were decomposed. Once the plaster had solidified, continuing the excavation of the layeryou got one plausible representation of the position the individual had when he died.
Most of them have been accomplished during the 19th centuryin a period in which the archaeological methodology was subject to much less rigid scientific schemes than now. To increase the drama of the poses for public use, there have been many casts modifiedand around them have been woven arbitrary narratives.
The results of the study on the DNA of the victims of Pompeii
The study conducted by Harvard and Florence extracted DNA from the bones of seven individuals from which the casts were made in different areas of the city. One of the best-known groups of casts studied by researchers is that of the so-called “Home of the Gold Bracelet“. It’s a pretty house richinside which, in 1974, the remains of four individualsfrom which casts were made. The four, two adults and two childrenwere found close to each otherwith one of the children in the arms of one of the adults. This individual was wearing an elaborate gold bracelethence the name of the house. At the time of discovery, archaeologists interpreted the group as a family unitcomposed of father, mother and two young children. The fact that one of the children was in the arms of the individual with the gold bracelet has traditionally led to the latter being interpreted as the mother. The analysis of ancient DNA instead he denied this narrative completely: not only has it been demonstrated that the members of the group they had no family ties between thembut it emerged that the individual with the bracelet was holding the child in his arms it was not a woman but a man.
Another denial with respect to the traditional interpretation of the identity of the casts comes from the “House of the cryptoporticus“, another rich Pompeian residence which owes its name to a cryptoporticus, or a basement passage. During the excavations of 1914, in the garden of the house, the remains of nine individuals were found, and casts were made from four of these. Two casts have been found very closein what was seen as a hug. Because of this position and theapparent female physiognomythe two embracing individuals have traditionally been interpreted as two sisters. Genetic analysis instead demonstrated that one of the two individuals was malewhile it was not possible to establish the biological sex of the second individual.
Another result rather important achievement of the study of ancient DNA consists in being able to identify theethnic origin of some of the victims of the eruption. These data once again demonstrate the level of cosmopolitanism and integration within the Roman Empire in the 1st century. AD The victims of the House of the Golden Bracelet, previously interpreted as a family unit, had genetic proximity to the populations of northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.
The male individual wearing the bracelet and holding the child he had dark skin. The male individual believed until recently to be one of the two sisters of the House of the Cryptoporticus had Middle Eastern and North African origins. This patterns genetic, brought by massive immigration in Italy of populations from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean between the 1st century. BC and the 1st century. AD, has been amply demonstrated several times in other genetic studies on contemporary populations.
