Back in 2018, the world was briefly fascinated by the remains of a particular victim of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
Victims of the eruption suffered some of the most awful deaths imaginable – with such horrible deaths taking place, it’s hard for a single one to stand out as “unlucky”. But the so-called “unluckiest person in history” briefly did, as it appeared to archaeologists like he had been hit in the head with a gigantic boulder as he attempted to flee from the eruption.
The body was first found to be of a male, likely around 30 years of age. At first, archaeologists believed that he had attempted to hide from volcanic ash and debris by sheltering in an alleyway, where he had then been hit in the head by the slab of rock. The skull was presumed to have been crushed by the slab, because, well, look at it.
Soon afterward, however, the team dug down further and found the skull intact, as well as the upper torso and arms.
“The explanation for this stratigraphic anomaly is to be found in the presence of a tunnel, below the lying position of the body and presumably dating to the Bourbon era, whose caving in led to the slippage and collapse of part of the upper stratigraphy, but not of the stone block, which is still located in the original stratigraphy,” the Pompeii Archaeological Park explained in a statement posted to Facebook. “His death was presumably not, therefore, due to the impact of the stone block, as initially assumed, but likely to asphyxia caused by the pyroclastic flow.”
Rather than being crushed by the rock, the team believed the man suffered a similar fate to thousands of others at Pompeii. Which, we would argue, is unlucky enough as it is.
