Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that four people, including a child, in the ancient Roman town of Pompeii used furniture to block a bedroom door and shield themselves from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Ultimately, the home became their final resting place, according to new research published in April in the E-Journal of the Pompeii Excavations.
During the catastrophic eruption, the volcano spewed hot, lethal gases and ash into the air, slowly killing most of the city’s population. Ash and volcanic rock called pumice then covered Pompeii and its residents, eerily preserving the victims’ last moments for millennia.
The excavation team made the discovery while investigating the House of Helle and Phrixus, named for a mythological painting found in the home.
Researchers partially investigated the home’s front rooms between 2018 and 2019, but the team behind the new study revisited the site over the past couple of years, exposing one-third of the building in preparation to restore and open it to the public, said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
“Excavating and visiting Pompeii means coming face to face with the beauty of art but also with the precariousness of our lives,” Zuchtriegel said in a statement.
The investigation has also revealed that the home was under renovation during the time of the eruption, and ironically, the very art for which the house is named echoes the tragic events that unfolded within it, the researchers said.
A scene frozen in time
During the excavations, the team unearthed an atrium with a water collection basin, a banquet hall with lavishly decorated walls, a room with a central opening for rainwater and the bedchamber.
Small fragments of volcanic debris probably fell like rain through the opening during the first phases of the eruption, causing the four people inside the home to rush to the bedroom and blockade it with a bed to protect themselves.
But as the fallout from the eruption continued, the researchers believe the inhabitants pulled back the bed from the door and attempted to escape.
The Pompeiians’ remains were found in the banquet hall.
“The arrival of the first pyroclastic cloud that entered the ancient city or the collapse of parts of the upper floors could then have caused the death of the four victims,” the study noted.
Pyroclastic clouds, or a dense mixture of ash, gas and rock dispersed during a volcanic eruption, caused a searing, rapid avalanche of debris to fill the home, Zuchtriegel said. The team made a cast of the bed after identifying voids left by the decomposition of the bed frame and pouring plaster inside it to preserve its shape.
The scene is just one of many examples that serve as a reminder of the terror and agony faced by Pompeii’s residents as they attempted to seek shelter, he added.
“Many took shelter in small rooms of buildings presumably, because they felt safer and more secure than in open areas exposed to the volcanic material raining down,” Zuchtriegel said. “Just in the last year we have discovered a couple of victims who had barricaded themselves in the narrow entrance hall to The House of the Painters at Work. Having closed the doors at each end of the hallway, they must have believed and hoped they would be protected.”
And in the House of the Thiasus, a young man and an older woman closed the window and door to a small room to protect themselves, only to get stuck there.
“Nevertheless, hours into the eruption (the victims) became trapped as the pumice accumulated outside, blocking any potential escape route should they have decided to flee,” Zuchtriegel said.
A tragic echo
In the home where the four people examined in the new study died, a central wall in the banquet hall has a fresco of Phrixus and his sister Helle from Greek mythology. As the myth goes, Helle and Phrixus escape their hateful stepmother Ino by flying away on a ram with golden fleece. But during the escape, Helle falls into a strip of sea, which was named Hellespont after her — it’s known today as the Dardanelles or the Strait of Gallipoli in Turkey.
The fresco captures the moment when Helle holds out a hand to Phrixus for help.
The ancient story likely no longer held any religious value for Pompeii residents and served merely as a decoration and status display, Zuchtriegel said. But in hindsight, it mirrors the desperate moments faced by the people trapped in the house during the eruption.
“The discovery of a group of individuals, who perhaps represent only a few of the household, were clinging to hope of survival in the face of horror and tragedy much like Helle herself who, in the fresco that lends its name to the house, attempts to cling on to her twin brother in vain,” he said in an email.
“When we excavate everything that we find is a surprise and in Pompeii those surprises come in the form of fragments and clues that can tell very personal stories but also shed light on the collective experience of loss and disaster in tandem with the hope and aspirations of the population,” Zuchtriegel added.
Pompeii’s distinctive homes
The removal of thresholds, missing decorations and portions of cut masonry at the entrance suggest the house undergoing a renovation — but the disruption wasn’t significant enough to keep people from living there or seeking refuge during the eruption. The house was also still full of elegant items and was well decorated, Zuchtriegel said.
In addition to the human remains, the team also found a bronze bulla, or an amulet worn by boys until they reached adulthood.
Amphorae — two-handled jars used for storing liquids — were uncovered in a basement that was utilized as a pantry. Some of the jars contained garum, a pungent fish sauce that was common at the time. The researchers also found a set of bronze pottery, including a cup shaped like a shell, a basket vase, a ladle and a single-handled jug.
“Each house in Pompeii is unique,” Zuchtriegel said. “Each has its peculiarities, its unique decorations, and its individual assortment of objects reflecting the personal choices and tastes as well as the fortunes and of course, misfortunes of its ancient occupants. The House of Helle and Phrixus was quite small, but it had marvelous paintings, which express the ambition of these people to rise in the social hierarchy. At the same time, they had to be careful not to lose their status.”
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