The study builds upon research from 2022, when scientists sequenced the genome of a Pompeii victim for the first time and confirmed the possibility of retrieving ancient DNA from the scant human remains that still exist.

Analysis of ancient DNA from the ashen casts of Pompeii victims changes presumed relationships between them, and reveals the port city's socioeconomic and geographic diversity.

More than 100 casts have been made to date. Now, scientists have used ancient DNA collected from the casts that have been made to better understand the Pompeii residents and their origins. What they found alters history that’s been written since Pompeii ...

The sex and ancestry of five people who died in the eruption are revealed by genetic material embedded in the casts.

The results, published Nov. 7 in Current Biology, reveal that some of the stories told for decades about the individuals’ sexes and family relationships, which were based on the casts’ physical appearance and other archaeological evidence, are either not correct or not as simple as believed. For example:

DNA evidence showed the four were male and not related to one another, clearly showing “the story that was long spun around these individuals” was wrong, Mittnik said. Researchers also confirmed Pompeii citizens came from diverse backgrounds but mainly ...

This new study probed the DNA evidence that has been taken from some of these bodies. The team used the same strontium isotopes that were used to date the DNA samples to get a better understanding of the diversity and origins of Pompeii’s residents.