New DNA Evidence Rewrites Long-Told Stories of People in Ancient Pompeii

A view of Pompeii, a buried and ruined Roman city near modern Naples in Italy, is seen in 1979. AP Photo

When a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved in stone for centuries.

Observers see stories in the plaster casts later made of their bodies, like a mother holding a child and two women embracing as they die.