🌋 THE MAN WITH TWO KEYS: THE SECRETS OF POMPEII'S VICTIM 11!

 🌋 THE MAN WITH TWO KEYS: THE SECRETS OF POMPEII'S VICTIM 11!

🏛️ Today I'm taking you to discover one of the most famous and fascinating plaster casts from the Pompeii excavations, scientifically known as "Victim 11". This incredible piece was discovered on December 28, 1882, inside the garden of a domus in Regio VIII.

🏃‍♂️ At the time of discovery, the body was found about four meters above the original street level. This means the man was desperately trying to escape, walking over the thick layer of volcanic ash and pumice that had already buried the city.

😲 As you can see from the details, the victim lies on his back and his facial expression has been captured for eternity, clearly showing his skull and a perfectly preserved set of teeth. Due to the extreme temperatures, his muscles stiffened instantly, pushing his neck backward.

🗝️ Why is he called "the man with two keys"? Right next to his body, two iron keys were found. Evidently, in a last desperate attempt, he held onto them to take something precious away before fleeing. The plaster cast also immortalized another striking detail: the imprint of a thick leather belt fastened with a buckle at his waist.

📍 Where to see it today? If you want to admire Victim 11 in person, he is currently exhibited inside the Pompeii archaeological site, in a glass display case located in the north-west corner of the ancient Macellum, right in the heart of the ruins!

🌋 Why are there plaster casts in Pompeii but not in Herculaneum? It all comes down to the different burial dynamics of the two ancient Roman cities!

🪨 Pompeii: The city was buried by a continuous rain of porous ash and pumice. As the trapped bodies decomposed over time, they left empty molds in the hardened layers. This allowed archaeologists to pour liquid plaster into the voids, creating the famous casts.

🔥 Herculaneum: Instead, this town was struck by devastating 500°C (932°F) pyroclastic mud flows! The extreme heat instantly vaporized soft tissues, and the dense mud hardened into solid tuff rock. This preserved perfect skeletons but made plaster casting absolutely impossible!

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