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During the excavation, the skeletal remains of two individuals were identified at different stratigraphic elevations within the sequence of volcanic deposits. Although they were located only a short horizontal distance apart—approximately 1.5 m from one another—their stratigraphic positions suggest that the two individuals, presumably fleeing, reached this area at different moments during the eruption.
The first individual (victim 2) lies within the final phase of accumulation of the pumice deposit, whereas the second (victim 1) occupies a higher stratigraphic position, attributable to a subsequent phase.
In this sense, the location of the two individuals, positioned at different stratigraphic levels within the pyroclastic deposit, reflects individual and independent human responses to a dangerous situation, consistent with observations made in other discoveries of victims located in the area of Porta Stabia.
The second individual was found at a depth of 7.6 m below the present-day ground surface. The body was in a huddled position on the right side, with the limbs flexed and the body contracted, presumably in the act of making a final attempt to protect himself from falling pumice.
The second victim had the right upper limb raised while supporting a mortar, interpreted as a protective object used to shield himself from the impact of the pumice lapilli. On the rim of the mortar are visible impressed stamps bearing the legend CN(aei) DOMITI / SALUTARIS.
Near the left hand, which lay beside the corresponding lower limb, a ceramic lamp was found, probably used for orientation under conditions of poor visibility. The object is a round, recessed discus lamp, with the nozzle separated from the shoulder by a straight horizontal line and a grooved ring handle, a type widely attested in contexts dating to the 1st century AD.
According to the preliminary anthropological analyses, the individual was male (based on the characteristics of the pelvic girdle and cranial region) and fully adult (approximately 35 years old based on dental wear, while the pubic symphysis indicates 27.7 ± 4.1 years).
His stature was shorter than that of Victim 1, but the markers of skeletal stress in the upper and lower limbs indicate a high level of physical activity.
As with Victim 2, targeted samples of the sediment surrounding the skeleton were collected, particularly from the pelvic region and the hands, for analysis of possible organic residues or microtraces of perishable materials such as leather and textiles.
At the proximal phalanx of the fifth finger of the left hand, an iron ring of simple manufacture and without a setting was found. It appears to have been heavily altered by oxidation processes but retains its original profile. In the vicinity of the pelvic girdle, a small hoard of ten bronze coins was identified, distributed in a manner consistent with the probable original presence of a container made of perishable material, which has not survived.
The assemblage of objects, both personal and functional in nature, points to an unsuccessful attempt to flee, in which the man had attempted to escape carrying the objects he considered useful for the journey: money, protection, and light to face the darkness of a city that had become unrecognisable.
The individual's stratigraphic elevation corresponds to the uppermost part of the grey pumice deposit. The skeletal remains were covered by no more than 20 cm of pumice, indicating that death occurred towards the end of the Plinian phase. Considering an average sedimentation rate of 15 cm per hour, death may have occurred between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. on the second day of the eruption, approximately two hours before Victim 2.
The position of the body and the associated objects convey with extraordinary expressive force the dramatic nature of the scene, evoking an ultimate attempt to find shelter and escape from a city that was no longer familiar, in which the individual struggled until the very end to protect himself and find his way.
Burial
