Posted on 11/07/2024 9:39:25 AM PST by Red Badger
These ancient 'sisters' can now be seen in a completely new light.
Image credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii
The surprising identities of some of the doomed inhabitants of ancient Pompeii have been revealed by a new analysis of their DNA, re-writing the life histories of these unfortunate souls. Based on their findings, the study authors suggest that certain long-standing narratives regarding some of the Roman city’s residents are wide of the mark, and are probably based on erroneous modern assumptions about how people lived in the past.
Following the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that annihilated Pompeii in 79 CE, the bodies of numerous victims became encased in ash, thus preserving their postures at the moment of their horrific deaths. Over the centuries, the soft tissues of the deceased decayed, leaving hollow cavities that researchers were later able to fill with plaster in order to create casts of these long-dead Pompeiians.
From the small fragments of skeletal material still present within these casts, the authors of the new study were able to extract the DNA of 14 different individuals, which they then analyzed in order to learn more about their ancestry, sex, and genetic relationships.
“We show that the individuals’ sexes and family relationships do not match traditional interpretations, exemplifying how modern assumptions about gendered behaviors may not be reliable lenses through which to view data from the past,” write the researchers. “For instance, one notable example is the discovery that an adult wearing a golden bracelet and holding a child, traditionally interpreted as a mother and child, were an unrelated adult male and child,” added study author David Reich in a statement.
The pair were discovered in 1974 inside a dwelling that became known as the House of the Golden Bracelet, and were thought to have been part of a family of four. However, the new analysis has revealed that the two adults and two children found in the house were all unrelated males.
In an email to IFLScience, co-author David Caramelli explained that it came as no shock to learn that previous assumptions turned out to be so inaccurate. “It happens very often that when we analyze individuals who lived in the past, we often discover 'embarrassing' situations,” he said.
Despite this, Caramelli revealed that “it was certainly a surprise to discover that the family was not a family and that at least one of the two girls was a boy.”
Meanwhile, in a building called the House of the Cryptoporticus, a pair of individuals who died in an embrace had previously been interpreted as sisters, yet turned out to include at least one male. “These discoveries challenge longstanding interpretations, such as associating jewelry with femininity or interpreting physical closeness as an indicator of biological relationships,” write the researchers.
A deeper look at the genetic heritage of the ancient cadavers provided yet more surprising insights, shedding light on the global connections of ancient Rome. “Overall it was interesting that they were mainly descended from recent immigrants from the eastern Mediterranean, highlighting the cosmopolitan nature of the Roman Empire,” Caramelli told IFLScience.
He and his colleagues are now analyzing the DNA of a further 168 individuals at Pompeii, the results of which “will offer us a much more precise and complete population panorama,” he says.
The study is published in the journal Current Biology.
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01361-7
PinGGG!....................
Last words caption: “I told you we should have went to Hawaii for vacation instead!”
I heard it was a red light city. Like Pattaya, Thailand.
It was a city of the uber rich. Think ‘Malibu’ or ‘Palm Beach’.
Those that were left were most likely slaves from the frontiers, their owners having fled or were not even there in the first place.................
It might read like Epstein’s client list.
“I told you we should have went to Alexandria for vacation instead!”...................
Resort towns are full of tourists and imported workers.
Well, you see in Roman times they had these people that were brought in from far away to perform manual labor, and were called “slaves...”
I question the accuracy of DNA analysis, especially when used to trace distant ancestry or ethnicity.
“to perform manual labor, and were called “slaves...”
NO WAY... ONLY the US had slaves, EVER!
And the slaves were ALL and only Black people..
And ALL of the Slave Owners were white!!
I was there last month. It is an incredible place. It is also a very difficult place to walk around. The roads/sidewalks are all large stones. Plus, there are ruts in those stones from the wagon wheels.
Our guide told us he had broken his ankle twice and wrist once in his almost twenty years of being a guide at Pompeii. He had a brace on his ankle last month from a previous fan.
I believe the people that lived there were called Etruscans.
Ha!
The slaves/servants of the wealthy Romans actually lived very good lives. Probably much better than the average person living in a shack and working in the fields. Especially if you were a house servant. Which there might have been a dozen or more in a big house.
Slaves of the Romans working in Pompeii were more like indentured servants. These are not the same people building the aquiduct from the mountains down to Rome.
They also were not the same type of slave rowing a galley on the Med. Row well and live Juda Ben Hur.
This always bugs me.
Previous fall, not fan
two adults and two children found in the house were all unrelated males
That's what assumptions do. There are a million different reasons for this group. The men may have tried to save children who were running in the streets or the men were pervs or the children were neighbors and ran to the house on their own or the men didn't know each other but happened to run inside or they were friends from work and were meeting for a round of golf or watch the Cowboys' game. But then the articles says how shocking it was to find out the two girls was a girl and a boy so that's confusing. Two girls, to two boys and then a girl and a boy.
If you were wealthy enough, male or female, you wore gold jewelry so what's the big deal about a man wearing a bracelet? Men wore gold bracelets, period.
Sisters turned out to maybe be a brother protecting his sister.
analyzing the DNA of a further 168 individuals at Pompeii, the results of which “will offer us a much more precise and complete population panorama,”
Nope, far from complete population. At least they are continuing to test. Pompeii is interesting.
Lava in one hand or the ocean in the other hand. Decisions, decisions.
They came for the whoo-houses. Pompei was chock-full of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.