NEWS
NAPLES — An ongoing project to scan the plaster casts of the victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. has raised more questions than it answered in the case of the most recent remains excavated from the ashes at the Pompeii dig site.
The disembodied arms, now confirmed to have belonged to two men around the age of 20, were discovered at the dig site in mid-October. The research team initially assumed the men died while holding hands and that their arms were severed from the rest of their bodies during the destructive volcanic event.
------- An approximation of how the remains came to look like they do today.
Pompeii Historical Ass.
Using CT scans and radiocarbon dating, the team made a series of discoveries that lead archeologist Dr. Francesco Moretti says are, "as disconcerting as they are incredible."
Contrary to earlier assumptions, the scans show that the two hands are in fact physically connected by the metacarpals; the men are now believed to have been conjoined twins, connected by their right hands.
Additionally, scans confirmed the presence of preserved flesh on the bones as well as evidence of amputation at either end of the of conjoined arms, leading experts to believe that the arms were removed from the twins and preserved through some sort of embalming technique, something that has never been seen before in this geographical region. Further study will be necessary to identify the specific preservation technique.
Radiocarbon dating estimates amputation, or perhaps postmortem removal, occurred between 60-65 A.D., up to 19 years before the cataclysmic volcanic event that destroyed Pompeii. "Our best guess is the embalmed arms were likely kept as a personal keepsake, or perhaps as part of a ritual, and were dropped during the evacuation," said Moretti. The Naples-based team has ordered more tests and expanded their dig area in an effort to piece together more of this bizarre story.
The disembodied arms, now confirmed to have belonged to two men around the age of 20, were discovered at the dig site in mid-October. The research team initially assumed the men died while holding hands and that their arms were severed from the rest of their bodies during the destructive volcanic event.
Contrary to earlier assumptions, the scans show that the two hands are in fact physically connected by the metacarpals; the men are now believed to have been conjoined twins, connected by their right hands.
Additionally, scans confirmed the presence of preserved flesh on the bones as well as evidence of amputation at either end of the of conjoined arms, leading experts to believe that the arms were removed from the twins and preserved through some sort of embalming technique, something that has never been seen before in this geographical region. Further study will be necessary to identify the specific preservation technique.
Radiocarbon dating estimates amputation, or perhaps postmortem removal, occurred between 60-65 A.D., up to 19 years before the cataclysmic volcanic event that destroyed Pompeii. "Our best guess is the embalmed arms were likely kept as a personal keepsake, or perhaps as part of a ritual, and were dropped during the evacuation," said Moretti. The Naples-based team has ordered more tests and expanded their dig area in an effort to piece together more of this bizarre story.
------- The Associative Press
