Latest news with #Zuchtriegel
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient home shows evidence of how Pompeiians tried to shelter from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. 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. 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. 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. 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.'
The Irish Sun
08-05-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Tragic Pompeii discovery reveals doomed family's desperate bid to escape eruption by barricading door with bed
THE eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago is largely considered to be one of the worst in history - incinerating or suffocating thousands of people living at the base of it. And archaeologists have just uncovered the heartbreaking final moments of a young family's bid to survive. Advertisement 7 During a recent excavation of a house in Pompeii, archaeologists found the remains of four people, including a child, in a barricaded room Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 A bed had been moved against the bedroom door, in what was likely the family's last effort to escape the searing hot ash that was flooding the city Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 The findings, published in Scavi di Pompei, offer an insight into the people who knew their lives were in trouble when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii During a recent excavation of a house in A bed had been moved against the bedroom door, in what was likely the family's last effort to escape the searing hot ash that was flooding the city. "In this small, wonderfully decorated house, we found traces of the inhabitants who tried to save themselves, blocking the entrance to a small room with a bed," Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement translated from Italian. The findings, published in Advertisement READ MORE ON POMPEII "Excavating and visiting Pompeii means coming face to face with the beauty of art but also with the precariousness of our lives," added Zuchtriegel. The house, named casa di Elle e Frisso, was first uncovered in 2019, during the excavations of a neighboring site called the House of Leda and the Swan. It was an ordinary day when Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano, erupted and entombed the cities of This type of volcano is known for having extremely violent eruptions due to its magma containing higher levels of gas. Advertisement Most read in Science When Vesuvius first exploded, it sent a massive column of ash and volcanic rock into the air. The Tragic History of Pompeii This giant plume then poured down onto nearby towns, crushing houses and suffocating residents. A series of pyroclastic flows - fast-moving, searing avalanches of gas, ash and volcanic debris - then flooded through nearby towns and cities. Casa di Elle e Frisso, also known as the house of Helle and Phrixus, was a decorated home, with paintings and a banquet hall. Advertisement Researchers believe the home belonged to a middle or upper class Roman family. And a lack of decorations and elements suggests they might have been renovating at the time of the eruption. The destruction of Pompeii – what happened in 79 AD? Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. It was destroyed, along with the Roman town of Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, and buried under volcanic ash in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The violent explosion killed the city's inhabitants, with the site lost for around 1,500 years until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years after that. The thermal energy released from Vesuvius was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki. The remains beneath the city have been preserved for more than a millenium due to the lack of air and moisture in the ground. During excavations, plaster was injected into the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies, allowing scientists to recreate their exact poses at the time of their deaths. Mount Vesuvius is arguably the most dangerous volcano on earth. It had been inactive for almost a century before roaring back into life and destroying Pompeii. Since then, it has exploded around three dozen more times – most recently in 1944 – and stands in close proximity to three million people. Although its current status is dormant, Vesuvius is an 'extremely active' and unpredictable volcano, according to experts. To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius. Excavations at thermal baths in Pompeii's ruins in February revealed the skeleton of a crouching child who perished in the 79 AD eruption. One painting that was found depicts the mythological twins Phrixus and Helle fleeing from their stepmother on a magical ram with a golden fleece, before Helle fell to her death in the waters below. It's this painting that gave the house its name. Advertisement Other details found by archaeologists include a water basin, a bronze amulet thought to be worn by the child, bronze scales, bronze cooking pans and a hole in its roof to collect rainwater. Yet this hole is likely what let the deluge of ash swamp the home. "This is because the lapilli, the volcanic stones that risked invading the space, entered through the opening in the roof of the atrium," Zuchtriegel said. "They didn't make it, in the end the pyroclastic flow arrived, a violent flow of very hot ash that filled here, as elsewhere, every room, the seismic shocks had already caused many buildings to collapse." Advertisement 7 The house gets its name from this painting, which depicts the mythological twins Phrixus and Helle fleeing from their stepmother on a magical ram with a golden fleece Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 Casa di Elle e Frisso, also known as the house of Helle and Phrixus, was a decorated home, with paintings and a banquet hall Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 Thousands of people died in Pompeii on the day of the eruption Credit: Getty 7 Mount Vesuvius is a major stratovolcano - a type of volcano known for having extremely violent eruptions Credit: EPA Advertisement
Scottish Sun
08-05-2025
- General
- Scottish Sun
Tragic Pompeii discovery reveals doomed family's desperate bid to escape eruption by barricading door with bed
It was an ordinary day in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano, erupted and entombed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash FINAL TERROR Tragic Pompeii discovery reveals doomed family's desperate bid to escape eruption by barricading door with bed THE eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago is largely considered to be one of the worst in history - incinerating or suffocating thousands of people living at the base of it. And archaeologists have just uncovered the heartbreaking final moments of a young family's bid to survive. 7 During a recent excavation of a house in Pompeii, archaeologists found the remains of four people, including a child, in a barricaded room Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 A bed had been moved against the bedroom door, in what was likely the family's last effort to escape the searing hot ash that was flooding the city Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 The findings, published in Scavi di Pompei, offer an insight into the people who knew their lives were in trouble when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii During a recent excavation of a house in Pompeii, archaeologists found the remains of four people, including a child, in a barricaded room. A bed had been moved against the bedroom door, in what was likely the family's last effort to escape the searing hot ash that was flooding the city. "In this small, wonderfully decorated house, we found traces of the inhabitants who tried to save themselves, blocking the entrance to a small room with a bed," Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement translated from Italian. The findings, published in Scavi di Pompei, offer an insight into the people who knew their lives were in trouble when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. "Excavating and visiting Pompeii means coming face to face with the beauty of art but also with the precariousness of our lives," added Zuchtriegel. The house, named casa di Elle e Frisso, was first uncovered in 2019, during the excavations of a neighboring site called the House of Leda and the Swan. It was an ordinary day when Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano, erupted and entombed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash. This type of volcano is known for having extremely violent eruptions due to its magma containing higher levels of gas. When Vesuvius first exploded, it sent a massive column of ash and volcanic rock into the air. The Tragic History of Pompeii This giant plume then poured down onto nearby towns, crushing houses and suffocating residents. A series of pyroclastic flows - fast-moving, searing avalanches of gas, ash and volcanic debris - then flooded through nearby towns and cities. Casa di Elle e Frisso, also known as the house of Helle and Phrixus, was a decorated home, with paintings and a banquet hall. Researchers believe the home belonged to a middle or upper class Roman family. And a lack of decorations and elements suggests they might have been renovating at the time of the eruption. The destruction of Pompeii – what happened in 79 AD? Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. It was destroyed, along with the Roman town of Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, and buried under volcanic ash in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The violent explosion killed the city's inhabitants, with the site lost for around 1,500 years until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years after that. The thermal energy released from Vesuvius was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki. The remains beneath the city have been preserved for more than a millenium due to the lack of air and moisture in the ground. During excavations, plaster was injected into the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies, allowing scientists to recreate their exact poses at the time of their deaths. Mount Vesuvius is arguably the most dangerous volcano on earth. It had been inactive for almost a century before roaring back into life and destroying Pompeii. Since then, it has exploded around three dozen more times – most recently in 1944 – and stands in close proximity to three million people. Although its current status is dormant, Vesuvius is an 'extremely active' and unpredictable volcano, according to experts. To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius. Excavations at thermal baths in Pompeii's ruins in February revealed the skeleton of a crouching child who perished in the 79 AD eruption. One painting that was found depicts the mythological twins Phrixus and Helle fleeing from their stepmother on a magical ram with a golden fleece, before Helle fell to her death in the waters below. It's this painting that gave the house its name. Other details found by archaeologists include a water basin, a bronze amulet thought to be worn by the child, bronze scales, bronze cooking pans and a hole in its roof to collect rainwater. Yet this hole is likely what let the deluge of ash swamp the home. "This is because the lapilli, the volcanic stones that risked invading the space, entered through the opening in the roof of the atrium," Zuchtriegel said. "They didn't make it, in the end the pyroclastic flow arrived, a violent flow of very hot ash that filled here, as elsewhere, every room, the seismic shocks had already caused many buildings to collapse." 7 The house gets its name from this painting, which depicts the mythological twins Phrixus and Helle fleeing from their stepmother on a magical ram with a golden fleece Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 Casa di Elle e Frisso, also known as the house of Helle and Phrixus, was a decorated home, with paintings and a banquet hall Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii 7 Thousands of people died in Pompeii on the day of the eruption Credit: Getty
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Find Chilling Scene During Pompeii Excavation
Archaeologists with the Pompeii Archaeological Park have discovered a home which serves as a snapshot of the ancient civilization's final moments, the Daily Mail reported. Within the home along Via del Vesuvio, now known as 'the House of Elle and Frisso,' the scientists found the skeletal remains of four people, including an adolescent child. A bed was pushed up against a doorframe in an effort to avoid the volcanic lava from the volcano's explosion. The child's body was adorned with a bulla, an amulet which commonly marked the passage from childhood to adulthood and wouldn't have been removed until the child reached adulthood.'Excavating and visiting Pompeii means coming face to face with the beauty of art but also with the precariousness of our lives,' the park's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, told the outlet. 'In this small, wonderfully decorated house, we found traces of the inhabitants who tried to save themselves, blocking the entrance to a small room with a bed of which we made a cast.' The home was discovered in 2018, but researchers have only recently finished their inspection. During their analysis, they found a large foyer which led into an atrium featuring an opening in the roof. Researchers posit that this somewhat rare feature may have warned the family to the impending threat of the volcano. Zuchtriegel said it's clear the family attempted to barricade themselves in the bedroom, but there was no escape. 'They didn't make it. In the end, the pyroclastic flow arrived, a violent flow of very hot ash that filled here, as elsewhere, every room,' he explained. 'The seismic shocks had already caused many buildings to collapse. An inferno that struck this city on August 24, 79 A.D., of which we still find traces today.'
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Pompeii family's desperate fight for survival: Archaeologists discover a bed wedged against the door of a house - alongside the remains of a child
When Mount Vesuvius began to erupt on the morning of 24 August, AD 79, most of Pompeii's residents were entirely unprepared. But a harrowing new discovery reveals one family's desperate fight for survival. Experts from Pompeii Archaeological Park have excavated a home dubbed the 'House of Elle and Frisso' along Via del Vesuvio. There, they discovered the brave attempt of the inhabitants of the house to save themselves from the ongoing eruption. The bed had been wedged against the door of the bedroom, as the family tried to protect themselves from the fury of Vesuvius. Meanwhile, the remains of at least four individuals were found - including a child. 'Excavating and visiting Pompeii means coming face to face with the beauty of art but also with the precariousness of our lives,' said the Director of the Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. 'In this small, wonderfully decorated house we found traces of the inhabitants who tried to save themselves, blocking the entrance to a small room with a bed of which we made a cast.' The remains of at least four individuals were found in the ancient Roman house - including a child The House of Elle and Frisso was discovered back in 2018, and was named after a mythological painting found in one of the rooms. Inside the house, the researchers found a large entrance hall leading to an atrium, a bedroom, a banquet hall, and a room with a roof and opening in the centre. While this opening was designed for the passage of rainwater, it may have also given the family an early warning of the impending eruption. The experts believe that lapilli - small rock fragments ejected during the first phase of a volcanic eruption - would have rained down on the home through the opening. This gave the family enough time to take refuge in the bedroom, using the bed as a blockade. Unfortunately, their efforts proved futile. 'They didn't make it,' Mr Zuchtriegel explained. 'In the end the pyroclastic flow arrived, a violent flow of very hot ash that filled here, as elsewhere, every room, the seismic shocks had already caused many buildings to collapse. 'An inferno that struck this city on August 24, 79 AD, of which we still find traces today.' During the excavations, the remains of at least four people emerged, including a child. The experts also found a bronze amulet known as a 'bulla', which they believe was probably worn by the child. Over in the pantry, the researchers found a deposit of amphorae, and a set of bronze pottery consisting of a ladle, a single-handed jug, a basked vase, and a shell-shaped cup. Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow. Every single resident died when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge. Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed. They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C. How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago What happened? Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow. Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge. Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed. They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C. An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance. Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century. His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware. He said that a column of smoke 'like an umbrella pine' rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night. People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours. While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano's column to collapse. An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life. Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly. As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge. While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be 'exceptional' and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000. What have they found? This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later. The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life. Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city. In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues. Some of the balconies even had amphorae - the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times. The discovery has been hailed as a 'complete novelty' - and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public. Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day.
