Archaeologica.org

Remains Found by Pompeii Really Are Pliny the Elder, New Tests Indicate

The cranium really does belong to the Roman admiral who died leading a rescue mission after Vesuvius erupted, even if the jaw doesn't, researchers say

Vladimir Stissi 03 February 2020 15:49
This whole fuzz is completely nonsensical, no wonder this was not published in a peer reviewed journal (and this find was never taken very seriously in the first place). Ancient texts clearly indicate Plinius' body was found after the eruption, which seems to imply it was recovered and properly buried, although this is not entirely certain. In any case, the group of bodies the skull (probably) belongs to was covered by the eruption and not seen again till the modern rediscovery. Unless we discredit the ancient texts (for which there is no reason) there is no reason to even consider the skull could have belonged to Pliny.

The main finding of the researchers, who presented their conclusions at a conference in Rome on Thursday, is that the jawbone belonged to a different person, but that the skull is compatible with what we know about Pliny at his death.

Then the flames and smell of sulphur which gave warning of the approaching fire drove the others to take flight and roused him to stand up. He stood leaning on two slaves and then suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense, fumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe which was constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed. When daylight returned on the 26th - two days after the last day he had been seen - his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like sleep than death.