Lund University // YouTube
It’s been nearly 2000 years since the destruction of Pompeii, and thanks to new technology, scientists are finally starting to better understand the scope of the catastrophe. In 2015, researchers used 3D imaging to create highly-detailed scans of the victims’ remains. Now, as Gizmodo reports, a new group of scientists has turned to computer modeling once more, this time to restore one of the city’s most opulent homes to its former glory.
The reconstruction, produced by researchers at Lund University in Sweden, depicts Pompeii immediately leading up to the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The digital tour was modeled using the scanned remains of a well-preserved city district excavated by Italian archaeologists.
The video above provides a stark contract to most illustrations we see of the doomed city. Instead of ash, embers, and chaos, the scene is full of vibrant colors, bright skylights, and flourishing plant life. The house researchers chose to recreate belonged to a rich resident named Caecilius Lucundus. Pompeii was plagued with devastating economic inequality in its day, so such luxurious digs wouldn’t have been the norm across the city.
You can learn more about the researchers’ process in the video below.
[h/t Gizmodo]
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October 6, 2016 – 9:00am