We can go into incredible detail with CT Scanning
By pouring Plaster of Paris into the cavities formed by Pompeii’s victims, Fiorelli did an incredible service to archaeologists and academics past and present, as well as everyday tourists wanting to visit the ancient site. What he couldn’t have known, however, was that in making these casts he would hamper later scientific efforts to examine the bones and teeth of the deceased. But because of recent rapid developments in the fields of computer science and radiology, we’re now in a position to return to his casts, and re-examine them in considerable detail using CT scanners.
Work started in 2005, and immediately one of the most surprising discoveries was that Pompeii’s inhabitants were remarkably healthy (or at least those who hadn’t succumbed to one brutal ancient disease of another). Scientists have explained this in terms of their healthy diets. We know these were rich in fruit and vegetables not from the contents of their long-since decomposed stomachs, but from traces of eggs, chicken, figs, olives, beans and nuts found—of all places—in the cesspit of the nearby town of Herculaneum. Pompeii’s inhabitants also had near perfect teeth; something scientists have attributed to the high amounts of fluorine found in the water and air around Vesuvius.
These scans continue to bring about new information that challenges many of our preconceptions about Roman life and culture. In April 2017, it came to light that two figures found locked in a romantic embrace were not, as previously thought, both women. On the contrary “The Two Maidens”, as they were originally dubbed, were both men, one of about 18 years and the other about 20.
DNA tests have confirmed that they weren’t related, and the intimacy of the position—one resting his head on the other’s chest in search of comfort or protection (or both?)—has led people to speculate that they were lovers.