The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is one of the most iconic disasters in human history. This volcano destroyed the city of Pompeii, leaving many victims encased in ash.

While horrible to think about, the ash was able to allow their modern descendants to learn a lot about them. This is because the ash hardened, which preserved the postures that the people were in when they died.

Over the course of centuries, the soft tissue of their remains decayed, leaving behind just hollow cavities. Researchers filled those casts with plaster in order to study and preserve them further.

Based on the positions of the bodies at their death, and who they were with, experts made assumptions about many of the victims of this disaster. According to a new study published in the journal Current Biology, however, it appears that many of these assumptions were incorrect.

One of the difficulties with studying ancient people is that we often apply modern standards of living to the evidence that is being researched. This study reveals what these types of assumptions often get wrong.

For example, one of the most famous casts in Pompeii is of two people who died lying next to each other, one resting their head on the other. This has long been thought to be two sisters who were comforting each other at the time of their untimely demise.

According to new DNA evidence, however, at least one of these two was a male.

Another example of this was the four people who were found together in a house. The house became known as the House of the Golden Bracelet because one of the victims was wearing a gold bracelet. Experts assumed that this was a family with a mother, a father, and two children.

Once the DNA was analyzed, it turned out that these were four unrelated males. They may have been friends, working together, lovers, or just four strangers who got trapped together during the terrifying event. It is important that modern researchers don’t make the same mistake again and try to assume a story for these people without proper evidence.

The researchers wrote in the study:

“These discoveries challenge longstanding interpretations, such as associating jewelry with femininity or interpreting physical closeness as an indicator of biological relationships.”

The team of researchers still has 168 individuals on whom they need to run DNA tests to learn more about these unfortunate victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption. It will be interesting to see what they are able to learn, and what assumptions they are able to debunk, with the results.

Experiencing that eruption must have been horrifying.

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