DNA Study Challenges Identities of Pompeii Victims

Recent DNA analyses have challenged long-standing narratives about the victims of Pompeii, whose lives were frozen by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The study, published in Current Biology, involved researchers from institutions including Harvard University and the University of Florence, and analyzed DNA from 14 casts of victims. Findings revealed inaccuracies in presumed gender and family relationships, such as a figure believed to be a mother with her child was actually a man unrelated to the boy. Another well-known cast of two individuals thought to be sisters or a mother and daughter included at least one male. The research underscores the pitfalls of projecting modern assumptions onto ancient societies and highlights the genetic diversity of Pompeii's inhabitants, reflecting influences from the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. This revelation prompts a reconsideration of historical narratives based on limited archeological evidence.