New DNA evidence rewrites long-told stories of people in ancient Pompeii
New Indian ExpressWhen a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved in stone for centuries. Observers see stories in the plaster casts later made of their bodies, like a mother holding a child and two women embracing as they die. But new DNA evidence suggests things were not as they seem — and these prevailing interpretations come from looking at the ancient world through modern eyes. “It opens up different interpretations for who these people might have been.” Mittnik and her colleagues discovered that the person thought to be a mother was actually a man unrelated to the child. DNA evidence showed the four were male and not related to one another, clearly showing “the story that was long spun around these individuals” was wrong, Mittnik said.
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