![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/6/26866451/1396333739.jpg)
Skeletons of Herculaneum
The skeletons at Herculaneum were discovered in 1980 when the ancient Bathes in the excavation site at the time were drained and 300 skeletons were found grouped together in a boat house which would once of been on the seashore. From the DNA collected from the skeletons archaeologists can define how old the victims were, what they ate and even what sex they were. [1]
From the research conducted scientists can tell that the average height of a Herculaneum man was 169 cm and woman were 155 cm. Their teeth were in perfect condition which shows that there was little sugar in their diets.[2]
During the eruption the people of Herculaneum were exposed to temperatures up to 500 degrees Celsius. These incredibly hot temperatures caused the people to die instantly and their skin to vaporize leaving only bones behind. [3]
The skull of an adult and many of the other victims in the boat house in Herculaneum have obvious cuts and blacking on the inside and outside of the skull. This indicated that they were hit by high temperatures that were hot enough to have their brains boiled causing their skulls to burst. [3]
The discovery of the Skeletons at Herculaneum is important as there is nowhere else that has evidence of ancient Roman skeletons that are so fully intact. The skeletons also gives us extensive detail to how the Herculaneum's died. The extreme high temperatures melted the skin and destroyed the clothing of the victims which is why they did not end up like the victims in Pompeii. The discovery of the 300 individual skeletons helped show that less people had escaped the eruption of Mt Vesuvius than originally thought due to the lack of Skeletons left in other areas. The DNA collected from the Skeletons gives us information on Roman life such as what they ate and what sort of diet they had. Also scientists could identify the types of diseases they had and what age they were when they died.
Annotations-
-bones lasted so long as they were preserved by the hot mud from the eruption in 79 AD.[2]
- crack in skull shows that the brain burst from over heating. [3]
-Full intact teeth show that the people of ancient Rome had reassembly good diets with little sugar.
bibliography
[1] secretes of Vesuvius- by Kate Cameron and Jennifer Lawless
[2]-Bones of the victims at Roman Herculaneum (http://www.heritagedaily.com)
[3]- BBC video : Documentary on the People Killed in the Eruption of Mount
[4] Wikipedia (Herculaneum).
http://bostinno.streetwise.co (image)
The skeletons at Herculaneum were discovered in 1980 when the ancient Bathes in the excavation site at the time were drained and 300 skeletons were found grouped together in a boat house which would once of been on the seashore. From the DNA collected from the skeletons archaeologists can define how old the victims were, what they ate and even what sex they were. [1]
From the research conducted scientists can tell that the average height of a Herculaneum man was 169 cm and woman were 155 cm. Their teeth were in perfect condition which shows that there was little sugar in their diets.[2]
During the eruption the people of Herculaneum were exposed to temperatures up to 500 degrees Celsius. These incredibly hot temperatures caused the people to die instantly and their skin to vaporize leaving only bones behind. [3]
The skull of an adult and many of the other victims in the boat house in Herculaneum have obvious cuts and blacking on the inside and outside of the skull. This indicated that they were hit by high temperatures that were hot enough to have their brains boiled causing their skulls to burst. [3]
The discovery of the Skeletons at Herculaneum is important as there is nowhere else that has evidence of ancient Roman skeletons that are so fully intact. The skeletons also gives us extensive detail to how the Herculaneum's died. The extreme high temperatures melted the skin and destroyed the clothing of the victims which is why they did not end up like the victims in Pompeii. The discovery of the 300 individual skeletons helped show that less people had escaped the eruption of Mt Vesuvius than originally thought due to the lack of Skeletons left in other areas. The DNA collected from the Skeletons gives us information on Roman life such as what they ate and what sort of diet they had. Also scientists could identify the types of diseases they had and what age they were when they died.
Annotations-
-bones lasted so long as they were preserved by the hot mud from the eruption in 79 AD.[2]
- crack in skull shows that the brain burst from over heating. [3]
-Full intact teeth show that the people of ancient Rome had reassembly good diets with little sugar.
bibliography
[1] secretes of Vesuvius- by Kate Cameron and Jennifer Lawless
[2]-Bones of the victims at Roman Herculaneum (http://www.heritagedaily.com)
[3]- BBC video : Documentary on the People Killed in the Eruption of Mount
[4] Wikipedia (Herculaneum).
http://bostinno.streetwise.co (image)