The above interesting photo from Pompeii is floating around the internet. Many remains of human bodies have been found and in many different positions such as lovers in their last embrace, a lady holding her pet, two men kissing, a man clutching his box of jewels, etc.
In all seriousness we have a better idea about the individuals that once inhabited Pompeii. For example in 1984 a new technique was used to preserve the body with insertion of a specially made resin. The technique was a completely success as it was able to capture the hair and a delicate hair pin. Although it should be noted that only one individual has ever been preserved with resin due to the cost. Plaster casting the bodies even though the technique is over a century old is still the go to method for preservation. Although the technique isn’t with out its problem, the bones and other tissues can be delicate and in poor condition as a result the plaster casting can damage if not destroy remains. Archaeologists are looking for new ways to try to preserve the bodies. Even the plastered ones are decaying and need repair especially the ones that were plastered a century ago. The benefits of plaster casting is that facial features and items of clothing are visible to the naked eye.
Last year at Pompeii several plastered bodies were CAT scanned. The information gathered was quite surprising. Their teeth were in good condition even better than expected. Also their diet seems to be very simple with lot of local fruits and vegetables. The local water is high in fluride naturally, which might account why their theeth were in g
