When I was first reading about Pompeii and Herculaneum, it was said that almost everyone had fled to safety before the towns were consumed by Vesuvius. Herculaneum, in particular, was thought to be empty of bodies. But beginning in 1981 archaeologists began exploring the waterfront, and on the beach and in boat sheds they have found more than 300 victims.
Most likely they were trying to flee from the town by boat when they were overtaken by the pyroclastic flow — a wall of HΰΉΟ air and ash that can travel at up to 450 miles per hour (700 kph). Boiled alive by temperatures of around 500 C, they died very quickly.
The most famous of these skeletons is the Ring Lady. She was tall, about 45, in good health. She was trying to take with her a fortune in jewelry, in particular two gold bracelets and two gold rings with gems.
The rings from which she takes her name.
Because of her height and good health, it is generally α΄ssumed that she was a wealthy woman and the gold was hers; but in that case, why hadn’t she escaped earlier with all the other rich folks? So maybe she was servant after all who came back to rob her mistress; perhaps she was tall and healthy because she grew up free but was then enslaved in some forgotten war, and nursed for decades her desire to recover her lost status
