• Restorers work to piece together fragments of bodies that have come away from plaster cast moulds of the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD79. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    Restorers work to piece together fragments of bodies that have come away from plaster cast moulds of the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD79. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • An expert team made up of archaeologists, radiologists, orthodontists and anthropologists began on September 2015 to use CAT scan technology (computerised axial tomography) to peer inside the plaster cast moulds of Pompeii’s victims. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    An expert team made up of archaeologists, radiologists, orthodontists and anthropologists began on September 2015 to use CAT scan technology (computerised axial tomography) to peer inside the plaster cast moulds of Pompeii’s victims. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • Tourists look down an ancient Roman cobbled street at the Unesco World Heritage site of Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    Tourists look down an ancient Roman cobbled street at the Unesco World Heritage site of Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • Plaster cast moulds of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption lie on a display table in a laboratory at Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    Plaster cast moulds of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption lie on a display table in a laboratory at Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • The CAT study has added more detail to previous findings. Ciro De Luca / Reuters
    The CAT study has added more detail to previous findings. Ciro De Luca / Reuters
  • A 16-layer scan has to be used to penetrate the hardened plaster but the results show impressive skeletal remains and near perfect teeth. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    A 16-layer scan has to be used to penetrate the hardened plaster but the results show impressive skeletal remains and near perfect teeth. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • The plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    The plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • The plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    The plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • A plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    A plaster cast of a Pompeii victim lies in a frescoed room. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
  • Plaster cast moulds of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption lie on a display table in a laboratory at Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
    Plaster cast moulds of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption lie on a display table in a laboratory at Pompeii. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

World

Pompeii under the scanner — in pictures

Rob Gurdebeke

October 20, 2015

  • English
  • Arabic

An expert team made up of archaeologists, radiologists, orthodontists and anthropologists are using CAT scan technology to peer inside the plaster cast moulds of victims the of Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD.

EuropeItaly