The remains of an adult, limping man have emerged in Pompeii in an area of new excavations, the so-called Regio V,..at the corner between the Vicolo dei Balconi (Alley of Balconies, the road that the team from the Pompeii Archaeological Park has just unearthed) and the alley of the ‘Nozze d’Argento’ (Silver Wedding).
Probably delayed by his disability, as he turned to watch the spectacular eruption while trying to flee, the man was swept by a pyroclastic cloud and killed. The stone that killed him, and still crushes him, will be removed soon.The man’s tibia has traces of a bad bone infection that must have caused him deep pain and made it difficult to escape. By the time he left, 2 meters of lapillus had already settled in the alley. And then a huge stone hit him at his head.
Casts all around the skeleton revealed the dramatic moments the man experienced before dying, when the pyroplastic cloud, dragging with it debris, pieces of iron and pavement, tree trunks, hit him.Lab tests, will be able to reveal more about the incident and the man himself. Archeologists will also look for his skull to try to reconstruct his facial features.