Another example of the exceptional nature of Herculaneum’s documentation includes a discovery made in 1980 of some 300 skeletons found in nine of the twelve vaulted spaces (fornici) facing the ancient beach, which were probably used as warehouses or boat shelters.

The objects found next to the victims tell us how everyone had taken their most treasured possessions with them, jewellery, baskets and bags with coins, money boxes, house keys, but also amulets and work tools, including an incredible surgeon’s set. They clearly hoped to one day return to their homes or make a new life elsewhere.

The victims are women and men, both young and old, masters and slaves, all equally huddled together in the hope of rescue. This group of skeletons constitutes an anthropological sample of absolute importance, being made up of individuals of different sexes and ages, who lived in the same period and historical context and died at the same time, yielding a great deal of information for palaeopathology.