sent to Pompeii from across the Roman Empire. “It’s always good when we have new data,” Gallello said. “This opens again the doors [to] a new way to think about the history of the population at Pompeii.”

This new study probed the DNA evidence that has been taken from some of these bodies. The team used the same strontium isotopes that were used to date the DNA samples to get a better understanding of the diversity and origins of Pompeii’s residents.

A family frozen in time by the volcanic eruption that hit Pompeii nearly two millennia ago. A mother, a father, and two children…one of the many stories invented by observers of the plaster casts made of the victims of the tragedy that struck the ancient town.