{"id":10498,"date":"2026-04-27T20:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/10498\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T20:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:00:26","slug":"archaeologists-at-pompeii-use-ai-to-reveal-the-face-of-a-victim-nbc-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/10498\/","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists at Pompeii use AI to reveal the face of a victim \u2013 NBC Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii<\/a> have used artificial intelligence<\/a> for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a victim of the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history\u2019s most famous natural disasters.<\/p>\n

The digital portrait represents an older man who was among two victims discovered as they attempted to flee the city toward the coast of what is now Italy during the volcanic eruption. Researchers believe the man died earlier in the disaster, during a heavy fall of volcanic debris.<\/p>\n

The reconstruction was developed by the Pompeii Archaeological Park in collaboration with the University of Padua and is based on archaeological survey data from excavations near the Porta Stabia necropolis, just outside the walls of the ancient city.<\/p>\n

Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Naples, was buried under ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago, preserving the city and thousands of its inhabitants in remarkable detail.<\/p>\n

Archaeologists found the victim holding a terracotta mortar, which they interpret as an improvised attempt to shield his head from falling lapilli, the small volcanic stones rained down during the eruption.<\/p>\n

Ancient accounts \u2014 including those of Roman writer Pliny the Younger \u2014 describe residents using objects to protect themselves as ash and debris blanketed the city.<\/p>\n

The man was also carrying an oil lamp, a small iron ring and 10 bronze coins, personal objects that offer insight into his final moments as well as daily life in Pompeii before the catastrophe.<\/p>\n

The digital portrait was created using artificial intelligence and photo-editing techniques designed to translate skeletal and archaeological data into a realistic human likeness. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe vastness of archaeological data is now such that only with the help of artificial intelligence will we be able to adequately protect and enhance them. If used well, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies,\u201d Pompeii park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The project aims to make archaeological research more accessible and emotionally engaging for the public while maintaining a scientific foundation, researchers said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archaeologists at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[537,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-10498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-italy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}