Resurrecting Pompeii (42 page)

Table 9.13 indicates that the Pompeian side incidence for this feature was in the mid range for Italian populations, though it again should be noted that a number of these populations are represented by very small sample sizes. It was considerably lower than the frequencies observed for a modern Roman sample and two African populations. The cranial incidence documented for San Vincenzo al Volturno (Table 9.14) is about double that of Pompeii. Again, it is notable that the cranial frequency for this trait is much higher for the Pompeian than the Herculaneum sample.

Ten post-cranial non-metric traits were scored for the Pompeian sample.
⁵⁴
In addition to recording many of these traits, Capasso was able to examine the Herculaneum sample for numerous post-cranial non-metric features that did not survive in the incomplete, disarticulated Pompeian collection, such as anomalies of the vertebrae.
⁵⁵
He also had the advantage of being able to associate bilaterally expressed traits and different non-metric features on the same individuals. Comparison between the results obtained from the two sites was hampered by the limitations associated with the Pompeian material. While there are some apparent differences in the observed frequencies for two of the femoral non-metric traits,
⁵⁶
for the purposes of this study, only one post-cranial non-metric trait – lateral squatting facets on the tibia – will be presented in detail. This trait was singled out as it appears to be most useful as a population marker for the Pompeian sample of victims.
Lateral squatting facets

This trait is scored present when the inferior articular surface of the tibia extends into the lateral fossa of the transverse depression on the lower anterior surface (Figure 9.4). This latter forms the attachment for the articular capsule of the ankle joint. It has been argued that tibial squatting facets result from biomechanical stress, caused by a particular type of squatting or kneeling posture. They have been observed in fruit pickers, whose occupation included regular flexion of the foot while standing or climbing ladders. A correlation has been observed between changes in habitual posture as a result of the introduction of stoves and chairs and a diminution in the presence of this trait in French and American archaeological samples. The observation of this trait on European foetuses suggests that biomechanical stress may not be the only cause of such facets, and a genetic origin should also be considered.
⁵⁷

A sample of 127 left and 124 right tibiae in the Pompeian collection were examined for the presence of medial and lateral squatting facets. There was a much higher prevalence of lateral than medial squatting facets. This trait was observed to occur more frequently on the right side, with a prevalence of 87 per cent, as compared to an incidence of 78.7 per cent on the left side. It is notable that the majority of cases for both sides exhibited strong expression of the trait. Capasso documented only five cases of squatting facets, which represents about 3.8 per cent of the Herculaneum tibiae that he studied. A modern American sample of white males yielded a left side frequency of 26 per cent and a right side frequency of 23 per cent. The side incidences of American white females are 24 per cent for the left and 33 per cent for the right.
⁵⁸

While the cranial metric results were inconclusive for the Pompeian sample, the relatively high frequency of certain non-metric traits in relation to other populations, like palatine torus, lateral squatting facets of the tibia and double-rooted canines, may indicate homogeneity, either as a result of common genes or a shared environment during the period of growth and development. Since it has commonly been assumed that the Pompeian population was heterogeneous, an explanation is required for these unexpected results.

It could possibly be argued that the apparent tendency towards homogeneity in the skeletal record is the result of sample bias produced by selective collection in the nineteenth century. Nicolucci (1882), for example, intentionally selected what he considered to be the more unusual skulls for examination. It appears that at least some of these skulls are now in collections in Naples and are no longer accessible (D’Amore
et al
. 1979; p.3 01; also see Chapter 3). It is impossible to assess the impact of this practice on the sample. The skulls that were excavated and stored on site at Pompeii over the last hundred years have not apparently been subjected to this treatment and so should be random.

A remarkable phenomenon was revealed in 1772, during the excavation of victims in the so-called Villa of Diomedes. Preserved in the hardened ash around some of the twenty-odd skeletons
¹
that were found collapsed on top of one another in the
cryptoporticus
corridor were the negative forms of human bodies. Though the eruption sequence was not fully understood at the time, there was an appreciation of the fact that a unique set of circumstances had contributed to the production of fossils at this site. The fine ash that covered Pompeii in the lethal fourth and subsequent surges had hardened and sealed organic material. Over time, these remains decomposed and were drained through the porous layers of ash and pumice on which they lay. This left what were essentially moulds of the shapes of organic remains as they had appeared at the time of the destruction.
²

An attempt was made to preserve the forms of victims found in the Villa of Diomedes but only the impression of the draped bosom and arms of a woman could be properly salvaged. They were first transported to the
Real Gabinetto di Portici
, and eventually were moved to the
Palazzo degli Studi
in Naples. These remains provided an image of a young woman, apparently in the last moment of her existence. The responses of those who viewed the ash image tended to be rather melodramatic and are best captured in Gautier’s short story
Arria Marcella
, which was published in 1852.
³

The excavators of the Villa of Diomedes also recognized the forms of nonhuman organic material that had decomposed over time in the hardened ash.
⁴
A technique was developed in the nineteenth century to reveal the shapes of wooden furniture by pouring plaster of Paris into cavities in the ash and removing the ash when the plaster dried. A door was cast in this manner in 1856.
⁵
Seven years later, Giuseppe Fiorelli revolutionized the way human remains from Pompeii were regarded when he and his assistant Andrea Fraia applied this method to Pompeian victims whose forms had been preserved in the fine ash of the second phase of the eruption. The first casts were made of four victims in the so-called Street of the Skeletons on 5 February 1863.
⁶
It has been suggested that there had been earlier but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to cast human victims, first of a presumed female from the House of the Faun in 1831 and again in 1861 when a victim was found with a clear impression of clothing and a jewellery box in the surrounding ash.
⁷

The type of preservation that enabled victims to be cast is unique to the region around Pompeii and cannot be seen at Herculaneum. The variation in preservation across Campania is in no way related to the eruption processes or the cause of death, as the majority of victims died as a result of surges in the second phase of the eruption. The differential preservation between these sites has been attributed to differences in the groundwater table. The Herculaneum victims are buried below the level of the post-eruption groundwater table and their skeletons have been encased in relatively soft and wet volcanic ash. These conditions coupled with the pressure of 20 or so metres of debris deposited above the bodies and other organic material, ensured that the forms of victims were not preserved.

In contrast, the individuals who were killed by the fourth and possibly later surges in Pompeii rest on 2.5 to 2.8 metres of porous ash and pumice that is well above the level of the groundwater table, and which has facilitated the drainage of decomposing soft tissue. The fine ash associated with the surges hardened quickly around the bodies and other organic material before there was time for them to decay. In the right circumstances, the finegrained surge deposit preserved phenomenal detail, including the impression of facial features and clothing. The potential for the preservation of forms of organic material was enhanced by there being only about two metres of overburden above the material preserved in the S4 layer in Pompeii.
⁸

The casts of the human victims from Pompeii and its immediate environs are both compelling and confronting. This is because they present victims as they appeared at or around the time of death. In a number of cases, the features that identified victims as individuals have been well preserved. Not only could faces be discerned but also their apparent expressions, as well as the clothes they wore and the objects that they carried. It is also possible to see how people died in the context of the environment in which they had lived.

While there are many cases of well-preserved bodies from around the world, the casts of the forms of the Pompeian victims are remarkable in that they represent individuals who do not come from a burial context. These people were victims of a mass disaster who, along with their culture, were preserved in the destruction layers. Not only is the viewer acutely aware of their untimely deaths, they are also exposed to the smallest details associated with the daily life of the victims. Despite the fact that the flesh has not survived, it is probably easier to relate to these casts than preserved bodies from tombs that have been subjected to unfamiliar death rituals.