Piecing together fragments of the past

A restorer working on Oct 13 to piece together fragments from plaster cast moulds of the bodies of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD79, which buried the city of Pompeii in Italy. An expert team, made up of archaeologists, radiologists, ort
PHOTO: REUTERS

A restorer working on Oct 13 to piece together fragments from plaster cast moulds of the bodies of victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD79, which buried the city of Pompeii in Italy. An expert team, made up of archaeologists, radiologists, orthodontists and anthropologists, is using CAT (computerised axial tomography) scan technology to peer inside the plaster cast moulds of Pompeii's victims, in a study that has added more detail to previous findings. The team used a 16-layer scan to enable them to penetrate the hardened plaster and the results revealed impressive skeletal remains and near-perfect teeth.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 21, 2015, with the headline Piecing together fragments of the past. Subscribe