What’s inside the Pompeii mummies

Recently released scans

Source - http://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2015/10/01/whats-inside-pompeii-mummies/

First results and images of the scans of 86 preserved bodies of Pompeii have been released by archaeologists who have spent the last year carefully restoring and scanning the people frozen in time. The images reveal what lies beneath the plaster and castings of these 86 Romans whose lives were ended within a moment.

The 3D scans leave little to imagination: the pursed lips of a young boy, as if in shock, the spine, ribs and pelvis of an adult male, the muscles and skin of another victim’s skull, even the teeth… The poses of these bodies reveal how these people died, like the man raising his hands above his head in a protective gesture, seemingly in a bid to stave off death.

Computerised axial tomography (CAT) machines (pictured scanning a victim), also known as CT scanners, are used because they produce detailed 3D models of the remains

On this image marked out the pelvis, femurs and knee bones of a victim are marked out. The bones are shown in various colours to make them easier to distinguish from one another.

The boy (cast pictured in the foreground before going in the CT scanner) was discovered alongside an adult male and female, presumed to be his parents, as well as a younger child who appeared to be asleep on his mother's lap.

Scan attempting to bring the skull of a victim to life using a specific contrast dye that mimics the appearance of muscles and skin.

The little boy's clothing is visible in the plaster cast but now scans have revealed his tiny skeleton beneath these clothes.

The spine, ribs and pelvis of a victim revealed.