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Pompeii is one of the most iconic
monuments of the Roman world.
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Millions of tourists come here
every year to see
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the remains of this ancient city
destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius.
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I'm Margaret Mountford.
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I've always
been fascinated by ancient history,
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and it doesn't get
much better than this.
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What makes Pompeii so special
are these remarkable relics.
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They're not statues.
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'These are the remains of people
frozen in the last
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'few seconds of their lives.'
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This is like looking at people
who are asleep.
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'Nothing like them has ever been
seen anywhere else.
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'They are unique.'
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That almost looks like the way
a boxer defends himself, doesn't it?
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Everything here is
so well preserved, we know almost
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every detail of what happened on
those days in August 79 AD.
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The earthquakes.
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The massive eruption.
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The hail of ash, rock and pumice.
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We even know the stories of many
of the people who perished.
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But why they are fixed in these
extraordinary positions
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had been a mystery for centuries.
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Now it seems that vital clues
had been overlooked.
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'Using new technology...'
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Oh, that's really the person.
That's phenomenal.
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'..and state-of-the-art
experiments...'
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Wow, nobody would have survived
that, would they?
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'..we are going to find out once
and for all why these people are
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'caught in these strange positions.'
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That's a beautiful image.
Look at that.
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Eyes like a portrait.
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And, for the first time ever, we are
going to do something extraordinary.
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We are going to bring you
face to face with the two people
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who died here 2,000 years ago.
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That's amazing. That's just amazing.
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Pompeii, southern Italy.
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Over the last 265 years,
this fascinating city has slowly
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been excavated from beneath
six metres of volcanic ash.
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Archaeologists have rediscovered
a world frozen in time
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nearly 2,000 years ago.
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But this city's last great secret
is yet to be revealed.
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How exactly did its population die
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and why were their bodies
so beautifully preserved?
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This is my first visit to Pompeii,
and showing me round the casts
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is Paul Roberts.
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He's head of the Roman Collections
at the British Museum.
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The first stop in my investigations
is close to the walls of the city.
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Beneath what is thought to have
been a livery stable
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are the remains of three people.
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These are the first casts I've seen,
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and I was expecting to see
something like white marble statues.
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This is like looking at people
who are asleep.
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The amazing thing is, inside those
plaster casts are real people
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who were walking around in Pompeii,
then running for their lives,
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and then died here.
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And we don't have casts like this
from anywhere else, do we?
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Pompeii is unique in that respect,
in preserving the imprints,
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the casts of the real people.
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The figure in the centre is the
largest man ever found in Pompeii.
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He has a far bigger build than
the average Roman.
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This has led people to believe
he may have been a gladiator
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brought here from Africa.
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Most gladiators were slaves,
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criminals or prisoners of war who
were forced to fight for a living.
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On either side of this giant
are two other figures.
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An adult male...
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..and what is thought to be
a young boy.
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These two casts were found together,
and many people believe
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they are the remains of a father
and his son.
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One story goes that the family ran
the livery stable
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outside the city gates.
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They would unload the carts that
came in from the surrounding
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countryside and then distribute
the fresh produce around the city.
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Life for children in Pompeii
was hard.
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They were forced to work
alongside their parents,
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as only the offspring of the wealthy
went to school.
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One day, this young boy may have
taken over his father's job.
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But this was not to be.
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I find it quite difficult to
know actually how
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I should be reacting to them,
because I do find it strange that
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we're standing here
looking at these bodies.
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It is a very strange sensation to
look at them, but I think if we try
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and look through them,
to imagine looking through their eyes
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and to see them as real people,
then that's not disrespectful at all.
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That actually gives them back
a bit of the life that they once had.
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I've visited lots of Roman sites,
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but I've never seen plaster casts
of human bodies
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like the ones they have here.
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Normally the archaeologists find
bones lying in mud or under rocks,
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but here the bodies left behind
these strange casts,
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and I want to find what was
different here
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and why those casts were
left behind.
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To find out exactly what did happen
here nearly 2,000 years ago,
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00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,920
and to discover why whole bodies
were preserved,
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we need to travel back in time
to the day of the eruption.
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On the morning of August 24th,
79 AD, just before midday,
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a powerful earthquake rocked
the quiet countryside
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around the mountain.
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LOUD RUMBLES
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Then, at around one o'clock,
Vesuvius erupted.
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A giant plug of dirt and rock which
had blocked the mouth of the volcano
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was hurled into the air.
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A huge cloud of ash and dust formed
high above the volcano.
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The cloud was pushed nearly
14 kilometres into the atmosphere,
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forced up by a powerful
column of gas and debris.
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The cloud spread
across the sky like black ink.
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It was so dense,
it blocked out the sun
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and turned the sky
above Pompeii to night.
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And then, came the downpour.
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Only this wasn't rain.
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It was a barrage of fine ash,
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rock and lumps of solidified lava
known as pumice stone.
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DOG WHINES
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In less than an hour,
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the eruption column had grown to
almost 32 kilometres high.
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Every second, one-and-a-half million
tonnes of debris was pushed
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high into the stratosphere.
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And then fell back down on to
the beleaguered city below.
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LOUD RUMBLING
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Pompeii was buried under
a blanket of volcanic ash.
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As panic ensued,
people tried to escape.
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But far worse was to come.
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Today, Pompeii is unlike any
other Roman ruin.
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This is a city frozen in time.
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It offers us an unrivalled insight
into life in the ancient world.
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But it also lets us
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see the very people who once walked
these cobbled streets.
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These remains are not just
exhibits in a museum.
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They are loaded with clues which can
help forensic scientists
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discover how these people
actually died.
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One thing is certain,
it wasn't lava.
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At temperatures up to 1,200 degrees,
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molten lava leaves little
or no human remains.
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So if the culprit wasn't lava,
what else could it have been?
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00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,480
And why are the bodies of the dead
in such strange positions?
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This one is sitting with his hands
covering his face.
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This one is pushing himself
up off the ground.
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And this one seems to have just
fallen asleep.
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It's as if time stopped
and the people froze.
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PEOPLE SCREAM
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For decades, it was thought that
the ash that fell like rain
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on the city of Pompeii was also
responsible for killing its people.
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With the air thick with ash
and debris,
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it was assumed that the people
suffocated.
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And the main reason for that
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is down to one of the most famous
casts in Pompeii.
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This man's remains were
found near the body of a mule,
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and so he's been named the Muleteer.
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Muleteers held one of the lowest
social positions,
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but they were vital for transporting
goods around the city.
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They knew the narrow streets
of Pompeii better than anybody.
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But this knowledge didn't help him
escape on the day of the eruption.
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His remains now
sit in Pompeii's granary.
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This crouching figure,
his hands raised to his face,
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was taken as proof
the people of Pompeii were
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suffocated by the ash
raining down from Vesuvius.
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'But Dr Peter Baxter
from Cambridge University thinks
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'the Muleteer's pose has been
misinterpreted.'
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Peter, this is one of the most
famous casts here, isn't it?
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People used to think that this
position showed that
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this individual had choked to death
or been asphyxiated by ash.
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What does the posture tell us?
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Well, when the early
archaeologists saw this cast,
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they automatically jumped to the
conclusion that the victim's died
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as a result of the heavy ash
fall from the volcano,
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and that they very quickly got
covered and buried in ash
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and suffocated in the ash fall.
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So the hands were protecting
the nose?
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The hands were, in effect,
protecting the mouth from breathing
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in the ash coming
down in the air around them.
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So people used to think that this
individual had asphyxiated,
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had choked to death.
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Is this the kind of posture someone
would have if that happened to them?
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It's unlikely.
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They're more likely to be
unconscious on the ground,
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rather than crouching like this.
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So if the people here didn't
suffocate on the ash,
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and weren't consumed by lava,
what did kill them
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and fix their bodies in these
strange positions?
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To solve this mystery, scientists
had to look beyond Pompeii
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to another town that was also
destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius.
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Six kilometres from the volcano
sits Herculaneum.
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Until the 18th century,
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this town lay hidden
under 20 metres of volcanic debris.
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It was only rediscovered
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when a farmer digging
a well on his property
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struck the remains
of a marble building.
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Herculaneum was much smaller
than Pompeii.
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Home to around 5,000 people.
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But its population
was far wealthier.
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Herculaneum was once
an exclusive holiday resort,
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where Rome's rich and powerful
relaxed in absolute comfort,
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their needs catered
to by an army of slaves.
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But all that wealth
and influence couldn't protect them
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from the disaster that
was about to unfold.
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Herculaneum is much closer
to Vesuvius than Pompeii is,
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so the people felt the force of the
earthquake and eruption
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far more strongly.
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SCREAMING
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They must have watched in horror
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as a vast cloud of debris
shot into the air...
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..and then run for their lives.
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00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,160
When excavators first began
to uncover Herculaneum,
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they were surprised by how few
human remains were found
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compared to the many hundreds
uncovered in Pompeii.
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They assumed that the
population had escaped,
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but then, in the 1980s,
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archaeologists turned their
attention to a series of boat sheds
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that once lined the beach.
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00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,280
Dr Pier Paolo Petrone
is an anthropologist
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who excavated three
of these boat sheds.
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Here are the victims.
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Gosh, that's horrific.
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So how many people were
found in here?
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So they'd run here to escape?
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00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,600
The people thought the boat sheds
would keep them safe.
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00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,480
But instead,
they became their tombs.
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00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,120
And what first struck
you about these bones?
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00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,360
And it looks as if it's been cut,
it's so sharp. Yes.
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00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,320
The brains had burst
out of the skull?
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00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:05,320
These skeletons look very different
from the body casts in Pompeii.
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00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,440
It seems that whatever happened here
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00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:12,200
was the result of a force
so hot it reduced these poor people
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to a scorched pile of bones.
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00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:16,760
And yet, just like Pompeii,
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00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,560
lava was never found in Herculaneum.
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00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:28,080
So why did the same eruption reduce
people to skeletons in one place,
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00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,440
and yet preserve whole bodies
just a few kilometres away?
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00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,560
'I want to take a closer look
at the volcano
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00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,760
'at the heart of this catastrophe -
Vesuvius.'
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This is the top of Vesuvius.
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00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,160
It's very hard,
looking around here,
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00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,000
to think that this mountain
caused all that damage.
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00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,320
But this sleeping giant
wasn't always so peaceful.
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00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,120
When this volcano erupted
nearly 2,000 years ago,
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00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,440
it did so in a way that had
never been recorded before.
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00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,000
Instead of throwing out lava,
238
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,280
it somehow created a wave of intense
heat that was strong enough
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00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,040
to kill people
11 kilometres away.
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00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,680
So what did happen here? And
why was this eruption so different?
241
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,600
Although much of the evidence has
been lost in the mists of time,
242
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,080
there was a witness
to the disaster.
243
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,400
'A Roman whom we call
Pliny the Younger
244
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,320
'was staying across
the Bay of Naples from Vesuvius
245
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,120
'when it erupted.'
246
00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,560
He wrote down what he saw,
247
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,960
and, 2,000 years later,
248
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,040
his words still hold clues
to the events of that day.
249
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,520
12 hours after the initial eruption,
250
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,760
Vesuvius was still spewing
millions of tonnes of ash
251
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,880
and debris into the atmosphere.
252
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,080
Pliny then described
something very unusual.
253
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,920
He wrote that a great
mass of material broke away
254
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,800
from the eruption column and flowed
down the sides of the volcano.
255
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:26,000
The fast-moving avalanche of gas
and dust spread out across the land
256
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,160
and covered everything in its path.
257
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,200
Pliny's words were disregarded
for centuries,
258
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,440
thought to be the product of an
overactive imagination.
259
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,360
But then, in the 1980s,
a volcano erupted in North America
260
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:55,320
and people saw for themselves
that Pliny hadn't been exaggerating.
261
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,680
Mount St Helens National Park
has some of the most breathtaking
scenery in the USA.
262
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,240
But on Sunday, May 18th, 1980,
263
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,120
this peaceful world was transformed
264
00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,920
when the Mount St Helens
volcano erupted.
265
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:33,680
For nine hours, a vertical eruption
column over 24 kilometres high
266
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,880
spread half a billion tonnes of
ash and debris across three states.
267
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,040
When it fell to Earth,
268
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,040
it covered everything
within 600 kilometres in a fine ash.
269
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,440
Vulcanologists
had seen eruptions before,
270
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,560
but this was the first time they
had managed to capture on film
271
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,640
the spectacular phenomenon.
272
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,320
If you look at the footage
carefully,
273
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,840
you can see that the whole north
face of Mount St Helens collapses.
274
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,160
As it does, it releases a searing
hot avalanche of gas and dust
275
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,480
that explodes
down the sides of the mountain.
276
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,720
This is called
a pyroclastic current.
277
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,520
Temperatures inside this
tidal wave of gas and debris
278
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,000
measured 700 degrees Celsius.
279
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,120
The turbulent
wave of superheated gas
280
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,440
travelled at nearly
130 kilometres an hour.
281
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,120
It destroyed everything in its path
within seconds.
282
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,600
You can see the devastation
caused by the pyroclastic current
283
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,800
over ten kilometres
from the mouth of the volcano.
284
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,080
Brittany Brand is a vulcanologist
285
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,480
who has made an in-depth
study of the explosive eruption.
286
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,440
She thinks that what
happened in North America
287
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,480
holds vital clues
to what happened here in Italy
nearly 2,000 years ago.
288
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,040
Could you explain what
a pyroclastic current is?
289
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:33,320
A pyroclastic current is an avalanche
of searing hot gas, ash and rock
290
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,040
that travels down
the slopes of a volcano
291
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:37,600
at hundreds of kilometres an hour.
292
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,680
It's impossible to
outrun and absolutely deadly.
293
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:43,840
When I think of an eruption,
294
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,360
I think of streams of lava
coming down a mountain.
295
00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,360
Well, the style of eruption,
296
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,640
whether a volcano will erupt lava
297
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,640
or if it were to erupt explosively,
298
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,600
is primarily a function of
how much gas is in the magma.
299
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,800
If there is no gas in the magma,
300
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,960
then the magma will erupt as
a lava flow or a lava dome.
301
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,160
And that is the actual magma, the
liquefied rock that's coming out?
302
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:08,320
Exactly.
303
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,040
And in an explosive eruption,
the difference is the magma
304
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,160
has gas bubbles, and as the gas
in the magma makes its way
305
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,240
to the surface, the gas bubbles get
bigger and bigger and bigger,
306
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,720
to the point where,
when the volcano erupts,
307
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,000
the gases just expand very quickly,
308
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,360
and it rips the magma apart into very
tiny pieces,
309
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,640
which are your ash and your pumice.
I see.
310
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,360
So it's still the same...
311
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:37,320
The pumice and the tiny rocks are
still the stuff that would be lava.
Yeah.
312
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,360
It's just the gas has split them up.
Exactly.
313
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,000
The pumice, the ash, they're all
bits and pieces of the magma.
314
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,280
If there is no gas,
it would erupt as a lava flow,
315
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,200
but because there is gas, it was
pulverised in an explosive eruption.
316
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,320
From what scientists
witnessed at Mount St Helens,
317
00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,400
and data gathered from other
volcanic eruptions,
318
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,280
it's now possible to piece together
319
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,760
exactly what happened
when Vesuvius erupted.
320
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,240
12 hours after the initial eruption,
321
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:19,400
Vesuvius was still forcing millions
of tonnes of volcanic debris
into the air.
322
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,360
Both Pompeii and Herculaneum
were drowning
323
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,840
under a thick
blanket of ash and pumice.
324
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,520
The people in Herculaneum
took refuge in the boat sheds.
325
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,200
But the ash fall was nothing
compared to what was to come.
326
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,240
The eruption column stretched
nearly 32 kilometres high.
327
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,280
Under its own weight,
it was beginning to weaken.
328
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,720
And at around 2am,
part of the column collapsed.
329
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,560
The collapsing column sent
a pyroclastic current
330
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,760
surging down the sides
of the volcano...
331
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,080
A turbulent avalanche of superheated
gas and dust
332
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,960
travelling at hurricane speeds.
333
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:27,280
Temperatures inside the explosive
blast were over 500 degrees Celsius.
334
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,240
The wave of searing hot gas and ash
335
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,440
took less than five minutes
to strike Herculaneum.
336
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,680
The people sheltering in the boat
sheds had no idea
337
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:54,200
what was about to happen.
338
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,840
The intense heat surge
killed them instantly.
339
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,240
It vaporised their flesh,
340
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,680
and the pressure from inside caused
their skulls to burst open.
341
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,920
And that is why all that remained
of the people in the boat sheds
342
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,360
were blackened skeletons
and cracked skulls.
343
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,520
The people in Pompeii were
unaware of the horror
344
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,000
raked on their neighbours
because the pyroclastic current
345
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,160
ran out of energy
before reaching the city walls.
346
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,760
For the moment,
it seemed that they were safe.
347
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,360
But they would not escape.
348
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,960
They would be left not as bones,
349
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,720
but as bodies captured
in their final moments.
350
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,520
Remarkably,
despite years of research,
351
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,760
there are still clues in Pompeii
that were overlooked.
352
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,680
This is the Macellum.
353
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,480
It was once Pompeii's
bustling marketplace,
354
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,320
a lively and sometimes
smelly focal point
355
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,480
for the city's 20,000 inhabitants.
356
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:40,240
It's now the final resting place
of two people killed by Vesuvius.
357
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:46,000
For years, people thought that
this woman had her arms raised
358
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,520
because she was trying to protect
herself against an attacker.
359
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:55,800
But recently forensic scientists
have reanalysed her strange posture,
360
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,800
and they now think it holds
vital information
361
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,720
about how the people
in Pompeii died.
362
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,080
Peter, does this cast give us
any clues
363
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,240
as to how this person died?
364
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,800
Yes. This attitude is very typical
of someone who has been exposed
365
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,720
to extreme heat
at the moment of death.
366
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,080
It appears as if the individual
is protecting themselves
367
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,520
while lifting their arms
up in that way,
368
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,000
but it is also very characteristic
of the effects of intense heat,
369
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,160
when they are enveloped in the cloud
of very hot ash and gases.
370
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,120
That almost looks like the way
a boxer defends himself, doesn't it?
371
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,560
Yes, it's called the pugilistic
attitude by pathologists,
372
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,680
because when people are caught
and die and fires,
373
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,320
they can adopt this posture,
causing the muscles
374
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,000
to coagulate and shorten
375
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,640
so that the limbs flex
and adopt this shape,
376
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,520
and then this posture becomes
fixed at the time of death.
377
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:50,680
It's very hard to overcome.
378
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,600
So this isn't just characteristic
of death from a volcanic eruption,
379
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:56,680
it's death from heat?
380
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,600
We see this whenever anyone
dies from extreme heat.
381
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:05,800
So if this person did
die from exposure to intense heat,
382
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,440
there must have been more
than one pyroclastic current.
383
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,040
And one of them must have reached
the city of Pompeii.
384
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,840
But why are the remains in Pompeii
385
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,280
so different from the remains
at Herculaneum?
386
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,520
The reason is
simply down to distance.
387
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:28,920
Pompeii is five kilometres further
from Vesuvius than Herculaneum is.
388
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,160
So as the wave of heat travelled
the extra kilometres,
389
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,840
it cooled from 500 degrees
to around 300 degrees.
390
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,440
This was still hot enough
to kill the people instantly,
391
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:47,240
but not hot enough
to vaporise their flesh.
392
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,920
But this theory raises
another question.
393
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,240
If you look closely
at the casts in Pompeii,
394
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,040
you can still see the imprint
of the clothes
395
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,920
that people were wearing
on the day they died.
396
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:11,320
So if the people were struck
by a wave of gas over
300 degrees Celsius,
397
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,160
why wasn't their clothing destroyed?
398
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,600
To find out,
I've come to Edinburgh.
399
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,800
Here at the university
they have a machine
400
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:37,320
that is capable of recreating
a pyroclastic current
in the laboratory.
401
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:50,000
Helping us is fire safety engineer
Dr Luke Bisby.
402
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,160
Luke, you know we've got
this puzzle at Pompeii,
403
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:58,080
because what seems to have happened
is that the people were killed
404
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,200
by the heat. But their clothing
has remained intact,
405
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,400
so we can still see the sandals,
we can still see the clothes.
406
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:05,640
How can that have happened?
407
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,320
One of the reasons we're trying
to run this test is to simulate
408
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,000
the conditions of what happened
to try to understand
409
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:14,320
how it is that the temperature could
have been sufficiently high
410
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,320
to effectively kill the people
instantaneously,
411
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,120
and yet the clothing wasn't burned.
412
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,960
So, Luke, what does this machine do?
413
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:23,880
It's a piece of equipment called
a fire propagation apparatus.
414
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,440
Basically, we place the sample inside
this quartz tube on a table
415
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:28,840
down inside the machine,
416
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,880
and we use these very high-powered
infrared lamps
417
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:36,760
to impose heat that we can supply to
the sample in a very controlled way.
418
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:41,120
The sample fabric we are using
is a type of boiled wool.
419
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,000
It's thought to be very similar
to the type of material
420
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,440
worn by the population of Pompeii.
421
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,840
We're wrapping the wool
around pieces of pork
422
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,240
to replicate the human flesh
beneath the cloth.
423
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,280
So we are going to stimulate
what it would have been like
424
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,920
for a person being hit by that
surge? That's right.
425
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,760
What we're trying to do here is
simulate a pyroclastic surge
426
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,840
moving down the side of the volcano
and over Pompeii at a velocity
of about 40 miles an hour,
427
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,880
at a gas temperature of about
300 degrees Celsius.
428
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,000
OK, well, let's see what happens.
429
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:25,760
The light given off by this machine
is powerful enough to blind,
430
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:29,280
so before it fires up
I've got to put on safety glasses.
431
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:47,920
We're going to heat
the sample for 150 seconds.
432
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:51,520
Experts think this is the length
of time the people of Pompeii
433
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,800
were exposed
to the pyroclastic current.
434
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,600
Right, so let's have a
look inside our sample here.
435
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,280
The cloth is a bit charred,
isn't it?
436
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,760
Yeah, there's some slight
discolouration
437
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:17,200
and charring of the cloth,
438
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,720
but, as you can see, it's still
very much intact.
439
00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,560
These are predominantly edge effects
due to contact with the foil.
440
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,680
In any case, it's really the centre
that we're more interested in,
441
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,680
and you can see the cloth there is
very well intact. That's phenomenal.
442
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,360
And underneath,
we have the pork flesh.
443
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,800
I'll just take it
out of the foil here,
444
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,080
and you can see there is some
slight discolouration
445
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,560
and drying to the top of the pork,
so it's definitely been heated.
446
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,720
I'll just cut into it here
447
00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:50,120
and see if we can see
any discolouration.
448
00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:52,880
There is some clear discolouration
at the surface here,
449
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,880
although not to a very
significant depth.
450
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,360
You can see that the pork at the top
is actually cooked,
451
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,880
despite the fact that we don't have
any damage to the woollen cloth.
452
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,760
So what temperature would the flesh
have got to, to turn out like that?
453
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:11,200
I expect the flesh here got
to between 200-250 Celsius. Wow.
454
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,520
Nobody would have survived that,
would they?
455
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,120
I think it's probably unlikely.
456
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,160
It used to be thought that
the victims at Pompeii
457
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,000
must have suffocated, because
if they'd been killed by heat
458
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,000
then their clothing
would have been destroyed.
459
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,960
But this experiment has shown that
a wave of heat at 300 degrees
460
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,320
will leave the clothing intact.
461
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,760
By bringing all the evidence
together -
462
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,760
the charred and burned skeletons
in Herculaneum,
463
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,000
evidence from Mount St Helens,
464
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,200
the contorted poses of the body
cast in Pompeii,
465
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,640
and the result of the cloth
test in Edinburgh -
466
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:56,400
it's now possible for the very
first time to piece together
467
00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,080
the unique sequence of events
that played out
468
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:01,520
when Vesuvius erupted,
469
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,320
and to reveal exactly how the
people in Pompeii died
470
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,320
and why their bodies
were frozen in time.
471
00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:29,760
At 1am on the second day
of the eruption,
472
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,960
the people sheltering in Herculaneum
had just seconds to live.
473
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:44,880
They were killed by the
first pyroclastic current.
474
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,840
The people in Pompeii were
oblivious to the death
475
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:03,400
and destruction because the first
wave of superheated gas
476
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,080
ran out of energy
far from the city walls.
477
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,520
But the eruption was far from over.
478
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,720
As time passed,
the column continued to weaken.
479
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:35,760
At 2am, it collapsed again.
480
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:43,040
The second pyroclastic current
thundered down the sides
of the volcano,
481
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,920
closely followed by a third.
482
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:52,520
Each surge grew in strength and
pushed further and further out,
483
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,640
closer and closer
to the city of Pompeii.
484
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,880
At around dawn,
the shower of ash and debris
485
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,040
falling onto Pompeii began to ease.
486
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,160
Many people who had fled the city
487
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,640
returned to collect their money
and valuables,
488
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,920
thinking that the worst was over.
489
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,800
But this was a cruel deception.
490
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:32,600
At around 7.30am, the column
above Vesuvius collapsed again.
491
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:37,680
A fourth pyroclastic current surged
down the sides of the volcano.
492
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,440
The gas and debris
raced over the ground.
493
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:02,600
This time, it did reach Pompeii.
494
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,920
So now we know the people of Pompeii
didn't suffocate on the ash.
495
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,040
They weren't consumed by lava.
496
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:42,840
They were struck down
by a wave of intense heat.
497
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,960
By the time the eruption was over,
498
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:51,120
Vesuvius had produced
six pyroclastic currents.
499
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,960
Over time, the ash that covered
the bodies hardened,
500
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,320
encasing each of the dead
in a solid outer shell.
501
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,760
As the remaining flesh
inside the shell decomposed,
502
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:13,360
it left behind a cavity,
503
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,960
a perfect mould of each victim's
final position.
504
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:25,160
And this allowed archaeologists
to do something extraordinary.
505
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,680
When they pumped plaster
into the cavities,
506
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:31,320
they created
these fascinating casts
507
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,480
unlike anything that has been
seen before or since.
508
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:56,000
The ash that covered the dead
was so fine,
509
00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:00,400
it preserved details of their faces
and the clothes they wore,
510
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,920
and, 2,000 years later,
511
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,160
it has provided us with the clues
to how the people died.
512
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,000
I wonder what it was like when
the first human cast was produced.
513
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,640
It must have been pretty
nerve-racking,
514
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,280
chipping away that rock to see
what they would find,
515
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:20,840
but incredibly exciting
when the whole human shape appeared.
516
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:25,920
These casts are the
real treasures of Pompeii.
517
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,840
They're closely guarded
and incredibly fragile,
518
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,160
but, for the very first time,
519
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:36,240
the authorities have given
permission to peer
beneath the plaster.
520
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:39,720
Using state of the art digital
X-ray technology,
521
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:45,080
we want to recreate the face of a
person who died on that fateful day.
522
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,280
The cast we have chosen
rests inside Pompeii's granary.
523
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,000
We want to X-ray this cast
524
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,800
because the plaster encasing
the skull is extremely thin.
525
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:03,640
Although this is one of the first
casts ever created,
526
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:07,520
very little is known about
who this person once was.
527
00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:13,240
We think it was a male,
because of the large build.
528
00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:16,760
But what he did for a living
remains a mystery.
529
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:22,200
We call him The Anonymous Man,
because we know so little about him.
530
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,120
But can we find out
what he looked like?
531
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:34,320
To recreate this man's face,
we've enlisted Richard Neave.
532
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,200
He's an expert on anatomical
facial reconstruction.
533
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:41,160
Tell me, how do you work?
What are you going to do?
534
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:46,280
Because of the limitations on how
we can handle this material,
535
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,680
if we can get X-rays of the skull
from the front and the side,
536
00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:54,920
then from that information
I can rebuild a skull.
537
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:59,040
And you can actually then put flesh
on the bones? Effectively, yes.
538
00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:02,200
It's a wonderful challenge.
It's not been done before.
539
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:05,480
So are you excited at the idea
of doing it? Oh, yes, I am indeed.
540
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,560
It's all in the bone. It's all
information in that skull. Mm-hm.
541
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,760
'Because the skull
is encased in plaster,
542
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:17,360
'we need to use a digital
X-ray machine to see through it.
543
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,760
'And as a safety precaution,
we have to wear lead vests
544
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:23,520
'and cordon off the area
from the public.
545
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,200
'Helping us
is X-ray technician Steyn Loeke.'
546
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:33,680
OK, so we're going to do
the left lateral...
547
00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:38,000
'The handheld X-ray machine sends
images directly to a monitor
548
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,360
'where Richard and I can view them.'
549
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:44,680
Bingo! Look! Wow! Gosh!
550
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:49,320
Ha-ha! I had no idea that there'd
be a whole skull in there.
551
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,920
I find that amazing, actually.
552
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,480
Look at that. It's like a portrait.
553
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,520
I'm hoping that Steyn is going to be
able to do some magic so that we
554
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:03,280
can actually see the angle of the
jaw, which I think is just there,
555
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,080
because it's a whopping great big
square one. Yep.
556
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:11,320
It's a very masculine sort of skull,
that. Absolutely. Very strong.
557
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:16,040
It never ceases to amaze me.
That's the expert eye, I think.
558
00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:20,080
'At first, the X-ray machine
produces images that are grainy
559
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:22,120
'and difficult to read.
560
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:25,920
'But we soon start to get pictures
that Richard can use.'
561
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:27,720
Oh, wow!
562
00:45:27,720 --> 00:45:31,000
It's surprising, isn't it,
when you look at it like this?
563
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:36,960
Just how much...you really can...see.
564
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:42,880
That's the edge of the skull there.
Yes. There's the front of the skull.
565
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,080
Beautifully shown.
There's the frontal sinus here.
566
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:48,960
That's the roof of the orbit
down there.
567
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,000
The roof of the eye socket. Mm-hm.
568
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:57,200
There's the nose, the floor of
the mouth, the palate. Hard palate.
569
00:45:57,200 --> 00:46:00,040
And our teeth.
570
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:01,760
Upper and lower teeth.
571
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:05,200
So is this good enough to create
a reconstruction from?
572
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:07,960
Well, with the other views,
yes, we can...
573
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:12,320
From this,
we can then create a skull.
574
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:17,000
And having done that, we can create
the face and the skull we've made.
575
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,120
Well, we've spent nearly all day
taking X-rays of casts.
576
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:23,960
It's much more difficult than
I thought it would be,
577
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:26,680
but I think finally we've
actually got somewhere.
578
00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:30,800
We've got a series of X-rays Richard
can work from. And that's great.
579
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:33,200
Two, three.
580
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:36,400
'It's incredible to think that
something as destructive
581
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:41,000
'as a volcanic eruption could help
preserve such fragile remains.
582
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:48,080
'The reconstruction team have also
been given access to another
583
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:52,840
'victim of Vesuvius, this
time from the town of Herculaneum.
584
00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:59,400
'Even though the massive heat surge
stripped the people of all
585
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:01,800
'traces of their identity,
it is possible
586
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:06,280
'to recreate the face of one of
these individuals because
587
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:10,560
'every skull holds
detailed information
about how a person looked.
588
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:16,600
'To reconstruct a face, we have been
given unprecedented access to
589
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:21,080
'the skull of a young woman who
died in one of the boat sheds.
590
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:24,000
'She's known as the Bella Donna.
591
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:28,280
'She's thought to have been a
wealthy inhabitant of Herculaneum,
592
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,200
'a woman who lived a life of luxury
and pleasure.
593
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,560
'A life cut all too short.'
594
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:43,400
I'm holding a 2,000-year-old skull.
595
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:48,400
This is supposed to be a woman's
skull, and she's called Bella Donna,
596
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,720
the beautiful woman.
597
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:54,240
I wonder if we can tell that,
or if you can tell that.
598
00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:58,800
Now, we can see from this that it has
the features that one would
599
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:05,840
associate with a female skull.
You have big eye sockets, big orbits.
600
00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:08,680
And it's very symmetrical,
601
00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,400
and one tends to associate
beauty with symmetry.
602
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,880
With regular features.
Regular features, yes.
603
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:20,920
Well, I shall put this on here.
Nicely in the centre.
604
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,600
OK, let's start this up.
605
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:26,600
'To recreate the Bella Donna's face,
606
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:30,960
'we first need to make
a complete scan of her skull.
607
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:35,160
'This machine will map the skull
in the most exquisite detail.
608
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:40,760
'And from this, we can print out
an exact three-dimensional copy.'
609
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:45,680
So now you can see on the screen
already, the 3D object.
610
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:50,440
It's like a real object coming
out of nothing. Exactly.
611
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:55,000
'Richard will then use the 3D copy
as a foundation from which to
612
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,160
'build the face of this woman.'
613
00:48:58,160 --> 00:49:01,760
I know this is the skull of someone
who lived here 2,000 years ago,
614
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:04,720
and yet I find it very hard
to relate that
615
00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:09,440
and the fact that she died in the
eruption of Vesuvius to a skull
616
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:13,480
that I'm holding in my hands now.
It doesn't feel real to me.
617
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,440
'My time in Pompeii is now
coming to an end
618
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,520
'and it's been a fascinating
experience.
619
00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:31,560
'I'm hoping that Richard will be
able to use his skill and knowledge
620
00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:35,800
'to show us the faces of two people
who died in this terrible tragedy.
621
00:49:54,280 --> 00:49:56,520
'For the last two months,
622
00:49:56,520 --> 00:50:01,640
'Richard Neave has been hard at work
in his studio in England.
623
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:06,000
'Using measurements taken from the
X-rays and 3D scans,
624
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:11,480
'he's built skulls for both the
Bella Donna and the Anonymous Man.
625
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:16,200
'And he's now starting to put
flesh on the bones.
626
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:21,800
'Slowly, layer upon layer of muscle
and soft tissue is built up.
627
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,360
'Once the eyes are in place,
the faces take shape.'
628
00:50:27,240 --> 00:50:30,880
It's no longer just a blank skull
staring at you.
629
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:34,440
This is going to be more
and more familiar as time goes by.
630
00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:44,120
'It's now winter, and Richard
and I are back in Italy.
631
00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:48,600
'Both the reconstructions are
finished, and I'm looking forward to
632
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:52,600
'coming face to face with two people
who lived here 2,000 years ago.
633
00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:59,800
'The first is the Bella Donna.
634
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:04,360
'This young woman is thought to have
been one of Herculaneum's
wealthier citizens.
635
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,280
'She died cowering
in one of the boat sheds.'
636
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:12,400
EXPLOSION
637
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:19,120
'We have brought her reconstruction
to the town where
638
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:22,520
'she once lived, Herculaneum.'
639
00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:25,800
Right, so this is the Bella Donna.
This is the Bella Donna.
640
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,360
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing
what you've made.
641
00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:31,120
Yes, well, you've only seen
a skull of her before.
642
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:33,960
So...this is what we've got.
643
00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:42,840
It's a person.
She's actually got character.
644
00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:48,280
It's so real.
That's all I can say. So real.
645
00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:54,800
To think of the skull...
You were holding the skull, yes.
646
00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:59,160
While I was holding the skull,
I couldn't imagine a person,
647
00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:04,040
and now I see her, I find it
difficult to relate her face
648
00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:08,800
to the skull, but that's because
she's alive and the skull isn't.
649
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:11,280
No.
650
00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:17,320
She's called the Bella Donna. Yes.
And I think she is beautiful.
651
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:21,920
Whether she'd have been
a showstopper... Difficult to know.
652
00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:25,120
I suspect she could well
have been in her day.
653
00:52:25,120 --> 00:52:28,000
So do you think they'll still
call her the Bella Donna?
654
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:29,960
I expect so, yes.
655
00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:35,280
I certainly became quite attached
to her, I have to say.
656
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:38,920
She's not yours now, you know!
She's not mine now, no, no. No.
657
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:41,480
I find it very hard
658
00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:45,400
when looking at all those skeletons
in the boathouses to think these
659
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:49,880
were all individuals, but looking
at her and thinking her skull was
660
00:52:49,880 --> 00:52:54,120
among those, she was an individual
and of course, they all were.
661
00:52:54,120 --> 00:52:57,760
It brings it much more to life,
somehow, what happened.
662
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:03,880
'This young woman once walked along
the narrow streets of Herculaneum.
663
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:07,600
'She may even have worshipped
here in this temple.
664
00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:13,480
'I think it's remarkable that
Richard has been able to breathe
665
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:16,880
'life into something
that was just a skull.
666
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:23,080
'The second face Richard has
reconstructed is of the man
667
00:53:23,080 --> 00:53:25,680
'who now lies in Pompeii's granary.
668
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:31,280
'We called this cast the
Anonymous Man, as no clues as to who
669
00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:34,960
'he was or what he did for a living
were ever found on his body.
670
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:44,600
'But we do have some idea
of how and when he died.
671
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:56,960
'We think this man managed to live
through 12 hours of the eruption.
672
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:06,640
'He may have escaped the worst
of the ash fall
673
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:08,600
'by hiding inside his home.
674
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:17,760
'At around dawn on August 25th,
he tried to flee the city.
675
00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:24,080
'But he didn't get far.'
676
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,440
EXPLOSION
677
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:31,200
'At around 7.30 in the morning,
678
00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:34,160
'he was engulfed by the fourth
pyroclastic current.
679
00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:44,560
'It killed him instantly.
680
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:51,840
'We have brought his reconstruction
to where his body cast now rests,
681
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:54,480
'Pompeii's granary.
682
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:59,000
'I wonder what face Richard
has been able to put on this
mysterious figure.'
683
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:04,160
This is what I've been waiting for.
Here we are. Right.
Let's see what you've made.
684
00:55:04,160 --> 00:55:05,720
There he is, Margaret.
685
00:55:07,720 --> 00:55:11,280
That's amazing!
That's just amazing!
686
00:55:13,520 --> 00:55:17,160
Not what you were expecting.
Not what I was expecting at all.
687
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:21,160
And I think it...looks so real,
688
00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:26,600
so human and...so much...what would
be more lifelike, but so alive,
689
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:31,080
and thinking that that actually
is what the person
690
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:34,440
whose bones are inside that plaster,
691
00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:38,200
but it doesn't seem to me
really like a real person,
692
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:43,920
whereas when I see what you've made
here, the person comes alive.
693
00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:48,800
You can imagine him living here and
walking up and down these streets.
694
00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:55,600
Here at Pompeii, archaeologists have
concentrated on the buildings,
695
00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:57,840
the artefacts, the wall paintings,
696
00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:01,160
all those things left in the
physical record, because we haven't
697
00:56:01,160 --> 00:56:04,800
got them left anywhere else, but of
course, it was a time for people,
698
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:08,240
and people lived here and these
are the people who died here.
699
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,520
It's extraordinary
looking into that man's eyes.
700
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:14,840
He seems so human,
he's almost alive.
701
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:17,280
And he was just an ordinary
man who lived here,
702
00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:19,800
but he died in the most
extraordinary way.
703
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:22,080
And looking at him,
you wonder what can it have
704
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:24,800
been like for the people who were
caught in that eruption?
705
00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:27,440
It must have been
indescribably awful.
706
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:38,280
I still think it's intrusive,
707
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:42,040
standing so close to these casts
and looking at them.
708
00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:44,880
But they are remarkable.
709
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:48,240
They don't just put a human
face on the tragedy here,
710
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:52,080
they've helped to explain
how the people actually died.
711
00:56:58,120 --> 00:57:01,560
Pompeii has wonderful buildings,
baths, theatres,
712
00:57:01,560 --> 00:57:05,480
but what makes it special
is the story of the people
713
00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:09,640
and how their lives were brought to
such a dramatic and horrific end.
714
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:39,880
Pompeii still sits in the shadow
of the giant Vesuvius.
715
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:48,080
It's erupted over 50 times
since this city was destroyed.
716
00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:53,480
The last time, in 1944,
717
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:57,240
half a metre of ash
fell on to its ancient streets.
718
00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:01,960
Vesuvius is still alive.
719
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,440
Still smouldering.
720
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:07,560
And who knows what the
future may bring?
721
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:17,440
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
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