Resurrecting Pompeii (17 page)

The bodies found indoors have been interpreted as those who had apparently stayed in their houses to wait out the eruption and included those who had sought refuge in the upper and lower floors, or in basement-level spaces as they provided shelter from the falling ash and pumice stones. Of the victims that were found inside dwellings, 168 were discovered on upper floors and 166 at groundfloor level. Those who died, both inside and outside of houses, in the second phase of the eruption can generally be distinguished by being buried between the ash layers associated with the fourth and fifth surges. However, some of the victims were found within a pyroclastic density current layer above the one associated with S4 and S5. Luongo
et al
.
¹⁴⁶
and Giacomelli
et al
.
¹⁴⁷
argue that these victims survived these surges and were able to walk around above the S5 layer, though their ability to cover much distance before they died would have been impeded by breathing difficulties resulting from ash particle pollution. They suggest that S4 and S5 were not associated with such high temperatures. Giacomelli
et al
. also consider that the evidence indicates that the pyroclastic density currents that overwhelmed Pompeii may have had a low-temperature frontal part, which presents as a few layers of ash in the stratigraphy, while the rear part shows evidence of non-uniform behaviour, possibly due to the influence of the structures in its path.
¹⁴⁸

Excavations that have been undertaken outside the walls of Pompeii, while limited, have yielded a considerable number of victims, including 28 within the pumice and ash of the first phase and 208 within the deposit produced by the pyroclastic density currents. It is likely that at least some of these people were attempting to escape by sea from the region around Pompeii. Further excavation will doubtless reveal more victims.

The cause of death can, at least, be inferred from an examination of the conditions of well-documented skeletons. The poses of the casts also reveal details about the manner of death and the time it took. Luongo
et al
.
¹⁴⁹
interpret the fact that the majority of the victims have been found intact, with no sign of carbonization, as indicative of ash asphyxiation. Further, the discovery of victims who occupied more than one layer of the pyroclastic density current deposits led them to suggest that death was not always instantaneous. Some individuals, like the one who has been preserved as a cast leaning on one arm from the Garden of the Fugitives (I, xxi; Figure 4.3), appear to have attempted to support themselves for a period of time prior to succumbing. They suggest that this is partly because the temperatures to which the Pompeian victims were exposed were not very high and it has even been suggested that they were not in excess of 100 degrees Celsius. Giacomelli
et al
. also argue that suffocation was the main cause of death and that the preservation of objects like glass, cloth, frescoes and skeletons precludes the possibility that there were burn injuries.
¹⁵⁰

These accounts are at variance with the interpretation of the casts by Baxter,
¹⁵¹
who examined photographs of 41 complete casts and observed that about half of them were frozen in positions that were consistent with

exposure to extremely high temperatures at or about the time of death. The poses of the casts of the Pompeian victims appeared very similar to those of more recent eruptions, such as those of Mt Pelée, Martinique in 1902 and Mt Lamington, New Guinea in 1951. The corpses from these eruptions were observed in a number of different positions, though the majority were prone with the hands against the face or with an extended spine and flexed limbs (see Figure 4.2).
¹⁵²
This latter position is described as ‘pugilistic’ in the forensic literature and is considered typical of perimortem exposure to at least 200–250 degrees Celsius. Muscles can be charred or coagulated when heated intensely and this may cause muscular contraction, which can be observed as flexion of the limbs. Contraction occurs as a result of the effect of heat on protein. Differential contraction occurs at the joint, the direction being determined by the more powerful muscle with the greatest surface area. Clearly, such poses do not necessarily reflect the final position of the body in life. The observed frequency of its occurrence in Pompeii is consistent with that from modern forensic contexts.
¹⁵³

The non-pugilistic poses that can be observed in the Pompeian cast collection require different explanations. It appears that a few of these victims (for example, Figure 4.3) were preserved in the positions they had assumed at the time of death. Though this phenomenon, known as cadaveric spasm, is not altogether understood, it has been explained in terms of total muscle contraction in the body at the time of death, specifically in cases of sudden and violent death. It would be expected to wear off, along with normal rigor mortis about 18–36 hours after death.
¹⁵⁴
In the case of the Pompeian victims, the effect of thermal coagulation of the muscles may have been a factor

Surveys of historic volcanic disasters reveal that pyroclastic density currents account for the greatest number of deaths directly related to the eruption process.
¹⁵⁵
The main causes of death associated with these have been identified as fulminant shock, asphyxia, thermal lung injury and deep thickness burns. Documentation from more recent eruptions demonstrates that few individuals survive pyroclastic density currents. It has been observed that such individuals tended to have been exposed to the more dilute parts of the current or were in some way able to obtain shelter, usually indoors. There have been a few reported cases of survival outdoors but only at the margins of currents. Nonetheless, all such survivors have been found to be at risk from fatal pulmonary or laryngeal oedema resulting from respiratory burns and deep thickness skin burns. Individuals can receive substantial burns to the skin and respiratory tract without any damage to their clothing due to the short exposure time to hot ash.
¹⁵⁶
It should be noted that, according to studies of the pyroclastic density currents associated with the
_AD
eruption by Giuroli
et al
., there could have been localized cooler zones in the lower part of the current, which may have increased the chances of survival for a few Pompeians.
¹⁵⁷

It has been argued that it is somewhat simplistic to assume that most of the deaths from the
_AD
79 event would have been from asphyxiation as it can be demonstrated that in these circumstances hyperthermia, or overheating, can also be a significant cause of death. Comparisons between the bodies of victims examined after the eruptions of Soufriére Hills volcano, Montserrat in 1997, Mt Pelée, Mt Lamington, Mt Vesuvius and Mt St Helens led Baxter to conclude that the bodies in the latter were not exposed to as much heat as those of the former four eruptions since there was no evidence of pugilism in the poses of the corpses from Mt St Helens. In addition, the survival of various cultural objects, such as paint, colour film and polystyrene insulation, suggests that they were not exposed to very high temperatures. Three of the four bodies found just outside the perimeter of the direct flow zone of the
nuée ardente
, about fifteen kilometres distant from the summit of Mt St Helens, were found with clear airways. This indicated that death occurred almost instantaneously as a result of extreme hyperthermia. Baxter therefore concluded that many of the individuals exposed to the greater heat intensity of the former three eruptions would have ceased to breathe before asphyxiation could have occurred.
¹⁵⁸

Determination of the exact cause of death provides an indication of the length of time that it would have taken to die. Though it is generally accepted that the fourth surge, as described by Sigurdsson, was responsible for the majority of Pompeian deaths, not enough physical evidence has survived to establish exactly how most individuals met their fate. It is likely that hyperthermia was a major cause of death in the second phase of the eruption and that many victims would have died rapidly, though it should be noted that the poses of the casts do not provide clear supporting evidence as it is possible that the bodies were only exposed to heat after death.
¹⁵⁹

Further excavation at the Herculaneum beachfront in the two decades since the groundbreaking work of Sigurdsson and his team has revealed numerous additional victims and contributed to the discussion about regional differences in the experience of the event. Over three hundred skeletons were exposed by 2005. The majority were found in the barrel-vaulted boatchambers beneath the Suburban Quarter. Fifty-nine individuals were found on the beach. A large number of the skeletons lie directly on the beach, while others lie within the surge deposit, between five and fifteen centimetres above the original surface of the beach. It was initially argued that all the skeletons that were found in the first surge deposit (S1) showed no signs of being carbonized, whilst those where portions of the victims protruded and were exposed to the greater heat of the second surge (S2) show signs of carbonization.
¹⁶⁰

Capasso undertook a multidisciplinary approach to establish cause of death of the victims at the sea front, which included examination of the taphonomic, anthropological and archaeological evidence.
¹⁶¹
Based on the position of the bodies, the distribution of burnt areas and histological changes in bone tissue, he concluded that differences could be observed in the manner of death between victims on the beach and those in the boat sheds. According to Capasso, the victims on the beach experienced the dehydrating effects of the surge, which resulted in the complete burning of bones. X-ray analysis indicated that the cracking patterns were not consistent with very high temperatures, though macroscopic and microscope studies produced results that indicated exposure to temperatures between 350 and 400° Celsius. A few cases were observed where high temperatures had caused rapid evaporation of the brain, which had caused the sutures of the skull to open. He argued that on the basis of histological studies, the bones of the individuals he observed in the boat sheds were also exposed to similar temperatures but, because of slower dehydration in a more protected environment, some soft tissue was preserved. He did not find any evidence of damage to skulls from evaporation of the brain but interpreted skull fractures that he observed as being consistent with post mortem damage from projectiles associated with the second surge. Like Sigurdsson, he considered that asphyxiation could have been a likely cause of death for a number of those victims who sought shelter in the boat sheds, though thermal shock would have accounted for a few cases.

Eighty skeletons from four of the 12 boat-chambers were recently examined in a multidisciplinary study headed by Mastrolorenzo.
¹⁶²
In contrast, the results of this research have led to the claim that rather than dying of asphyxiation, these victims died from fulminant shock. This means that their vital organs ceased to function so abruptly there was no time for conscious reaction. The poses of these individuals have been used to confirm this interpretation as there are no signs of defensive gestures or positions that would suggest suffering. From palaeomagnetic analysis of a tile collected outside chamber 12 and what has been interpreted as heat damage to the bones and teeth of the victims, it has been suggested that the first surge was associated with a temperature that may have been as high as 500 degrees Celsius. Exposure to such heat would have caused almost instantaneous death. A number of the skeletons have fractures that are commonly observed on incinerated bodies, such as transversal clear-cut fractures with blackened edges and longitudinal fractures on the shafts of the long and flat bones. Like Capasso, Mastrolorenzo
et al
. noted that some of the skulls displayed blackened surfaces on cranial openings, inner skull surfaces and open sutures, which they interpreted as a reflection of high temperatures causing the brain to boil. Cracking of the dental enamel and changes in colour of the bones were also consistent with incineration.