Plaster Bodies in Pompeii

As you know from previous blog entries, we visited Pompeii, where the whole city was covered by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Everyone in the city was killed.

There are a few places in the city where you can see plaster models of the people who were killed in the eruption. As the archeologists were uncovering the city, they came across voids in the ash. These voids were where bodies had been. The bodies had decomposed, but the space was still there. The archeologists filled the voids with plaster and let it dry. Once the casts were dry, the archeologists were able to chip away all the ash and were left with the plaster cast of the person who had been killed. You can see some of these images here.

The plaster figures are neat to see, but also very sad. Many of them are covering their faces or have their arms up as if they were trying to protect themselves from the ash and lava. It makes you realize how scary and tragic the event must have been.

-Terri