vesuvian

One of the more remarkable findings was the product of pure scholarship: Mr. Goddio remembered a fresco he’d seen unearthed in Herculaneum, the city buried along with Pompeii by the Vesuvian eruption of A.D.

Now, the diggers are progressively pulling away the volcanic ash and pea-sized stones, known as lapilli that smothered Pompeii during the two catastrophic days of the Vesuvian eruption.

Though it falls into a fairly common category of images of food called “xenia” — offerings for guests — it is not like most of the roughly 300 examples that have been found in Vesuvian cities.

It is believed to have been looted from Herculaneum, a settlement buried in the Vesuvian eruption of 79 A.D., and decades ago was tracked by investigators to the apartment of Michael H. Steinhardt, a prominent New York venture capitalist and a major ancient art collector.

“The study is exciting because it shows that DNA is preserved from the towns buried by the Vesuvian eruption despite high temperatures,” said David Reich, a Harvard geneticist, who was not involved in the research.