During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, ash rained down on and covered the city. Encased in the super-heated material, bodies were totally incinerated, leaving a cavity in the cooling ash. Archeologists poured plaster into the cavities to form plaster casts of bodies in Pompeii. Those shown here were discovered in the Macellum, a large marketplace located aside the Forum.
Ever since seeing a BBC documentary about these casts in Pompeii, I have wanted to visit. Fascinating!
Hi David. For me it was an article I read in an old National Geographic when I was about 12 years old. Took me that long, but I finally made it to Pompeii!