A few years ago, I crossed an item off my bucket list when I visited the ruins of Pompeii. I’ve always been fascinated by Pompeii; imagine an entire town being frozen in time, buried under a blanket of volcanic ash one summer day in August of 79 AD.
But what was most unforgettable about what I saw there were the casts of the bodies of the doomed men, women, and children (and even their pets) whose final moments were preserved forever in plaster.
Please enjoy this guest article from Atlas Obscura – The Plaster Citizens of Pompeii
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Those who did not flee the city of Pompeii in August of 79 AD were doomed. Buried for 1,700 years under 30 feet of mud and ash and reduced by the centuries to skeletons, they remained entombed until excavations in the early 1800s.
As excavators continued to uncover human remains, they noticed that the skeletons were surrounded by voids in the compacted ash. By carefully pouring plaster of Paris into the spaces, the final poses, clothing, and faces of the last residents of Pompeii came to life…
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