The skeleton was found in Regio V a new set of excavations in Pompeii. Photo / SA Pompeii, Getty
The skeleton was found in Regio V a new set of excavations in Pompeii. Photo / SA Pompeii, Getty
There are few worse situations to find yourself than in the town of Pompeii on the 24th of August, 79.A.D. However this man has got to be contending for the shortest straw draw in the contest of unfortunate places to be standing.
He's been dubbed "the unluckiest man in history" after apparently being crushed under a stone hurled by the eruption of mount Vesuvius.
The eruption of the volcano near Naples killed off almost 16,000 people in the neighbouring towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
These buried towns became sites for a special kind of dark tourism. Since the 1700s people have been visiting the scene of classical disaster to view the ossified remains of Romans caught by the blast.
This interest is only sharpened for Kiwi travelers living in the shadow of the Pacific Ring of Fire and the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Even while headlines are full of the Hawaiian volcano of Kilauea, there is a freshness and connection to these two-thousand-year-old Roman remains.
There is a darkly romantic side to seeing Romans cut off 'in media res', frozen in time by a pyroclastic flow.
The archaeological area of Pompeii has become one of Italy's best known attractions. Photo / Carlo Hermann, Getty
But this recent finding was "dramatic and exceptional," according to the archaeological director, Massimo Osanna.
Findings show he was probably lame, suffering from weakness in his bones. Which probably meant he had little chance of escape when "a formidable stone block (perhaps a door jamb), violently thrown by the volcanic cloud, collided with his upper body."
And there he remained until he was excavated by Osanna's team.
He may soon become the latest addition of this Roman town's dark attractions.
Here are some of Pompeii and Herculaneum's most tragic and downright bizarre remains:
The discoveries of Pompeii
Petrified horse
This horse was a relatively new discovery. Found in stabling just outside of the city, a plaster cast shows it was almost perfectly preserved.
#ICYMI A horse killed during the A.D. 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius has been discovered in an ancient stable outside of Pompeii’s city walls, and researchers injected liquid plaster into the ash cavity the horse’s body left behind.https://t.co/UjlZ9gPMDnpic.twitter.com/on7W8OBglX
— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) May 29, 2018
The maidens
Found locked in a death embrace the "maidens" have been much mythologised. Theories as to identity range from a pair of lovers to family members.
One thing's for certain, recent bone analysis revealed these "maidens", as they came to be known, were actually both men.
Graffiti
The preserved roman walls are wonderously profane. Etchings showing the impulsive thoughts of people two thousand years ago.
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Lupinar brothels
Another dark - and possibly not safe for work - attraction is the ancient roman brothels, covered in beautifully crafted, though undeniably smutty murals. They have been the subject of awe and much sniggering for centuries.
Roman baths
Spectacular bits of engineering, these spa baths look almost as welcoming today. They were certainly ahead of their time.
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Garden of the fugitives
What was probably an orchard the final hours of at least 13 of the inhabitants of Pompeii. The plaster casts are stark reminders of the people who once walked the streets. Many of the best examples
