Vesuvius Erupted In August—So Why Did Pompeii’s Victims Wear Heavy Clothing?

Most scholars agree that Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79 CE, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum. So why were some unfortunate victims wearing heavy woolen clothing on the day they died? That’s the question posed by an interesting new study.

The date of this well-known tragedy is actually a controversial topic among Pompeii historians. The University of Valencia’s ÁTROPOS group for research on the culture of death joined the debate by analyzing the clothing of the victims. After researching 14 Pompeii artifacts, an interdisciplinary team found that some of the victims wore woolen coats and clothing both indoors and outdoors—and the weaving of wool suggests that it was very difficult.

Lorenç Alapont, an archaeologist from the University of Valencia and an anthropologist, presented a study at an international conference on the day of the eruption of Vesuvius.

“Obviously heavy wool”

“The clothes worn by the victims suggest not only the possibility of colder weather than usual, but also a day with a dangerous place where they need to protect themselves,” Alapont highlighted in his speech, according to a statement from the University of Valencia. “Of the fourteen characters examined, in four cases both the type of clothing and the way it was woven—obviously heavy wool.”

When this volcano erupted, it covered the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, preserving its final moments with amazing precision. Although some remains crumbled over the following centuries, scholars were able to immortalize their structures and positions—mostly, human ones—by filling the voids with concrete to create concrete. Some of these characters were good enough to preserve the victim’s clothing, down to the design of the fabric.

“By studying the characters, we can learn how people dressed on a particular day in history. We can also consider the type of cloth they wore and how the threads were woven,” said Alapont. “In this case, the weave is thick. Most of the victims were wearing two clothes: a coat and a coat, both made of wool. We don’t know if this clothing was meant to protect them from the gases or the heat caused by the volcanic eruption.”

When was Pompeii buried?

Although at the time wool was a common and inexpensive fabric, the fact that people wore two layers during the eruption of Vesuvius indicates that the area had unusual temperatures in late August.

In addition, “our study also found that, compared to other actors, those who were evicted from the house and those who were evicted from the outside showed the same fabric weave. People wore the same clothes inside and outside their houses,” said Alapont.

Although the widely accepted date of the eruption is August 24, 79 CE, it is still debated. For example, fall fruits and braziers in houses with embers among the ancient ruins indicate that a terrible event may have happened later, according to the statement. It remains to be seen what further research reveals about one of the most famous tragedies of ancient times, including when it happened.