Pompeii wasn't just buried in ash and forgotten for centuries until the 16th century. Archaeologists say new findings support the idea that people resettled among the ruins of the Roman city after Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. While the eruption buried Pompeii and killed thousands, there were survivors, including many who started over in other cities, per PBS. But not all survivors left for good. According to researchers, survivors who couldn't afford to start over elsewhere may have returned, possibly joined by newcomers, per the BBC.
The site's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, says recent excavations provide a clearer view of this post-eruption period. Rather than a rebuilt city, Pompeii became what he describes as an informal camp or "favela" within the remnants of the original city. This improvised community appears to have existed from soon after the disaster up until the 5th century. The research indicates that life in post-eruption Pompeii looked very different from what came before. Residents likely lived on the upper floors of surviving buildings, with lower areas repurposed as cellars. Standard Roman infrastructure and municipal services were gone. Still, the ruins offered both shelter and a chance to search for valuables left behind.
For centuries, the focus on Pompeii's dramatic destruction and its preserved artifacts has overshadowed the traces of those who returned, Zuchtriegel noted. In the past, these subtle signs of later habitation were sometimes cleared away without much attention. Today, Pompeii is best known as a tourist attraction and an unusually complete snapshot of ancient Roman life, but archaeologists now hope to shine more light on this lesser-known chapter in the city's story. (We're learning new details about Pompeii's dead, too.)
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