Pompeii victim ID’d as a likely doctor

庞贝古城遇难者身份确认：极有可能是位医生

Archaeologists used a combination of advanced CT scans and 3D digital reconstruction to identify one of the Pompeii victims who died in 79 CE during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius as most likely having been a Roman doctor, according to an announcement by the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

据庞贝考古公园宣布，考古学家利用先进的 CT 扫描和 3D 数字重建技术，确认了公元 79 年维苏威火山爆发时的一名庞贝遇难者，其身份极有可能是位古罗马医生。

As previously reported, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius released thermal energy roughly equivalent to 100,000 times the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, spewing molten rock, pumice, and hot ash over the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in particular. The vast majority of people in Pompeii and Herculaneum—the cities hardest hit—perished from asphyxiation, choking on the thick clouds of noxious gas and ash. But at least some of the Vesuvian victims probably died instantaneously from the intense heat of fast-moving lava flows, with temperatures high enough to boil brains and explode skulls.

据此前报道，维苏威火山爆发释放的热能相当于二战末期投放在广岛和长崎的原子弹威力的 10 万倍，喷涌而出的熔岩、浮石和炽热火山灰覆盖了庞贝和赫库兰尼姆等城市。受灾最严重的庞贝和赫库兰尼姆，绝大多数人因吸入浓厚的有毒气体和火山灰而窒息死亡。但也有部分遇难者可能因高速流动的熔岩流产生的极端高温而瞬间死亡，其温度足以使大脑沸腾、颅骨爆裂。

In the 19th century, an archaeologist named Giuseppe Fiorelli figured out how to make casts of those frozen bodies by pouring liquid plaster into the voids where the soft tissue had been. Some 1,000 bodies have been discovered in the ruins, and 104 plaster casts have been preserved. Restoration efforts on 86 of those casts began about 10 years ago, during which researchers took CT scans and X-rays to determine whether complete skeletons were present.

19 世纪，一位名叫朱塞佩·菲奥雷利（Giuseppe Fiorelli）的考古学家发明了一种方法：将石膏浆注入软组织腐烂后留下的空腔中，从而制作出这些遇难者的石膏模型。遗址中已发现约 1000 具遗体，其中 104 具石膏模型被保存了下来。约 10 年前，研究人员开始对其中的 86 具模型进行修复工作，期间通过 CT 扫描和 X 光检查来确定模型内是否保留了完整的骨骼。

The CT scans and X-ray images revealed that there had been a great deal of manipulation of the casts, depending on the aesthetics of the era in which they were made, including altering some features of the bodies’ shapes or adding metal rods to stabilize the cast, as well as frequently removing bones before casting. Ancient DNA analysis in 2024 of four victims found in what is known as the “House of the golden bracelet” revealed that all four bodies were male and none were genetically related—challenging the pre-existing preferred narratives and suggesting those may reflect certain cultural biases.

CT 扫描和 X 光影像显示，这些模型在制作过程中曾受到当时审美观念的很大影响，包括改变身体形状的某些特征、添加金属杆以加固模型，以及在浇筑前经常移除骨骼。2024 年，对“金手镯之家”（House of the golden bracelet）中发现的四名遇难者进行的古 DNA 分析显示，这四人均为男性且并无血缘关系——这一发现挑战了此前人们普遍认同的叙事，表明这些叙事可能反映了某种文化偏见。

This latest discovery involves one of the plaster cast remains of 14 victims found in what is now known as the Garden of the Fugitives, who died when they were overtaken by the pyroclastic flow while trying to flee via the Nocera Gate. Pompeii superintendent Medeo Maiuri excavated the victims in 1961, originally found in three smaller groups, although today the plaster casts are displayed in a line. Maiuri published a fanciful, largely fictional account of who he believed those bodies to be in National Geographic that same year: a merchant with severe osteoarthritis; a mother and her two young children; a young couple with an infant daughter; and a servant with what appeared to be a shoulder bag, although the “bag” later turned out to just be a malformation in the plaster.

最新的发现涉及“逃亡者花园”（Garden of the Fugitives）中 14 具石膏模型中的一具。这些遇难者在试图通过诺切拉门（Nocera Gate）逃生时，被火山碎屑流吞没。庞贝遗址负责人梅德奥·马尤里（Medeo Maiuri）于 1961 年发掘了这些遇难者，最初他们被分为三组，但如今这些石膏模型被排成一列展示。同年，马尤里在《国家地理》杂志上发表了一篇充满想象力且大体虚构的报道，描述了他认为这些遇难者的身份：一名患有严重骨关节炎的商人；一位母亲和她的两个年幼孩子；一对带着幼女的年轻夫妇；以及一名背着疑似“肩包”的仆人——尽管后来证实那个“包”只是石膏模型上的一个畸形部分。

For decades, archaeologists had overlooked a small object trapped within another of the plaster casts that had been kept in storage for decades at the archaeological park. The new analysis with X-ray imaging and CT scans revealed that it was a small case with parts made out of metal—specifically, a toothed wheel operating a locking system. The case contained a coin-filled fabric pouch and several metal instruments similar to what a Roman physician (medicus) might have used, leading the team to conclude the man had likely been a doctor, fleeing Pompeii with his instruments close at hand.

几十年来，考古学家一直忽略了存放在考古公园仓库中另一具石膏模型内的一个小物件。通过 X 光成像和 CT 扫描的最新分析显示，那是一个带有金属部件的小盒子，具体来说，是一个带有齿轮锁闭系统的小盒。盒子里装有一个装满硬币的布袋和几件金属器械，与古罗马医生（medicus）可能使用的工具非常相似。这使研究团队得出结论：这名男子很可能是一位医生，在逃离庞贝时随身携带了他的医疗器械。