In 79AD  Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and the surrounding area was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted.

Scientists have now successfully sequenced human genome from an individual who died in Pompeii, Italy, after the eruption of the volcano. Before this only short stretches of mitochondrial DNA from Pompeiian human and animal remains had been sequenced.

Gabriele Scorrano, University of Copenhagen, and colleagues examined the remains of two individuals who were found in the House of the Craftsman in Pompeii and extracted their DNA. The shape, structure, and length of the skeletons indicated that one set of remains belonged to a male who was aged between 35 and 40 years at the time of his death, while the other set of remains belonged to a female aged over 50 years old.

Only the sequence of the entire genome from the male’s remains were possible due to gaps in the sequences obtained from the female’s remains.

Comparisons of the male individual’s DNA with DNA obtained from 1,030 other ancient and 471 modern western Eurasian individuals suggested that his DNA shared the most similarities with modern central Italians and other individuals who lived in Italy during the Roman Imperial age.

However, analyses of the male individual’s mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA also identified groups of genes that are commonly found in those from the island of Sardinia, but not among other individuals who lived in Italy during the Roman Imperial age. This suggests that there may have been high levels of genetic diversity across the Italian Peninsula during this time.

Additional analyses of the male individual’s skeleton and DNA identified lesions in one of the vertebrae and DNA sequences that are commonly found in Mycobacterium, the group of bacteria that the tuberculosis-causing bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis belongs to. This suggests that the individual may have been affected by tuberculosis prior to his death.

Retrieving ancient DNA from Pompeiian human remains provides further insight into the genetic history and lives of this population.

The study was published in Scientific Reports. Bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic portrait of two Pompeians that died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD

Pompeii. Casa del Fabbro or House of the Smith or House of the Craftsman