The Pompeii body casts show who the victims were
The DNA of a long-dead Pompeiian family is likely to be genetic, according to Lindo, an anthropologist at Emory University
It has now been proven that new genetic evidence has changed assumptions about the relationships of the ancient people. A group of four long-dead Pompeiians, for instance — once thought to be parents and their children — turned out to have no biological relation to one another.
Another discovery revealed that an adult wearing a golden bracelet and holding a child, long believed to be a mother and child, were actually an adult man and a biologically unrelated child. The pair of individuals thought to be sisters, meanwhile, in fact include at least one genetic male.
“They really did a nice job of pointing out that these narratives were highly biased and that these judgments were made without really any scientific data,” says anthropologist John Lindo, who studies ancient DNA at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia.
The results of their research, published in the journal Current Biology this week, rely on the genetic material found in the remains of Pompeiians, which were preserved with casts made in the 1800s to fill voids left by their decomposing bodies.
During the restoration of 86 plaster cast, the researchers were able to collect some of the fragments. Samples from five individuals yielded complete or partial genomes. Lindo says that the researchers were lucky. A lot of the DNA would have been destroyed, and being mixed with the plaster later on would have complicated the situation.
Modeling the final moments of a mother carrying her daughter and two sisters embracing in a plaster cast: a university in Florence, a statement by Caramelli
“The findings challenge enduring notions such as the association of jewelry with femininity or the interpretation of physical proximity as evidence of familial relationships,” said Professor David Caramelli, from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florence.
According to the news release, the findings ” highlight the importance of integrating genetic data with archaeological and historical information to avoid misinterpretations.”
The bodies, later immortalized by plaster casts, inspired narratives about who the victims were: for example, a mother holding her child, and two sisters embracing in their final moments.
Researchers have found that a group of four long-dead Pompeiians, for instance, once thought to be parents and their children, turned out to have no biological relation to one another. Another discovery revealed that an adultwearing a golden bracelet and holding a child, long believed to be a mother and child, were actually an adult man and a biologically unrelated child.