Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, the pyroclastic flow instantly killed all residents who had not escaped before it struck. During the excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae many cavities left by the victims' bodies in the hardened lava were found. Imprints of their remains have been preserved via an ingenious method devised by the Italian Giuseppe Fiorelli.
In 1860 Fiorelli hit upon the innovation of injecting plaster into the cavities thereby producing casts of the corpses' clothing and features. What resulted were highly accurate and eerie forms of the doomed Pompeiani who failed to escape, in their last moment of life, with the expression of terror often quite clearly visible. This technique is still in use today, with a clear resin now used instead of plaster because it is more durable, and does not destroy the bones, allowing further analysis.
Famous examples include "A dead dog found in Pompeii".