https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62wx23y2v1o Skip to content Watch Live * Home * News * Sport * Business * Innovation * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Home * News + Israel-Gaza War + War in Ukraine + US & Canada + UK o UK Politics o England o N. Ireland # N. 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Archaeologists believe some survivors who could not afford to start a new life elsewhere returned to the site and may have been joined by others looking for a place to settle. Pompeii was home to more than 20,000 people before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, burying - and preserving - much of the city, before its rediscovery in the 16th century. There had been previous speculation that survivors had returned to the ruins, and archaeologists at the site said in a statement on Wednesday that the theory appears to have been confirmed by new research. "Thanks to the new excavations, the picture is now clearer: post-79 Pompeii reemerges, less as a city than as a precarious and grey agglomeration, a kind of camp, a favela among the still-recognisable ruins of the Pompeii that once was," the site's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said. The archaeologists said the informal settlement continued until the 5th century. [grey-place]EPA A plaster cast of a body lying on the ground at Pompeii EPA The eruption preserved much of the city, including the remains of some caught up in the disaster The evidence suggests people lived without the infrastructure and services typical of a Roman city, and that the ruins provided the opportunity of finding valuable objects, the researchers said. People are thought to have lived in the upper floors of homes above the ash below, with the lower floors converted into cellars. The city's destruction has "monopolised the memory", Mr Zuchtriegel said, and in the rush to reach Pompeii's well-preserved artefacts, "The faint traces of the site's reoccupation were literally removed and often swept away without any documentation". The site is now a world-famous tourist attraction and offers a window into Roman life. Pompeii Ancient history Archaeology --------------------------------------------------------------------- Related Gladiator helmets preserved by Vesuvius on display Inside Pompeii's hidden bathhouse 'Once-in-a-century' discovery reveals spectacular luxury of Pompeii --------------------------------------------------------------------- More from the BBC 17 hrs ago [grey-place]Conservator Jacqui Hyman, who is wearing a floral blouse and purple protective gloves, smiles as she sits alongside the newly conserved hat. The hat is made of ochre-coloured felt, with a wide brim. How a 2,000-year-old hat kept Romans out of the sun The 2,000-year-old hat, which kept soldiers cool in Ancient Egypt, is one of only three in the world. 17 hrs ago 1 day ago [grey-place]Two students in the trenches digging for skeletons and artefacts In pictures: Monastery reveals more secrets Archaeologists says uncovering skeletons is a "delicate process" during annual dig in Cookham. 1 day ago 2 days ago [grey-place]People standing in what looks like an old quarry site, which as neat trenches dug and big piles of dirt. All are in high-vis and hard hats. Some are gathered round a new find while in the background there is another group in another trench Neanderthal tools, mammoths and new species at dig It is the last time the Cotswolds site - known as the Mammoth Graveyard - is being excavated. 2 days ago 4 days ago [grey-place]Two men wearing high visibility yellow jackets stand in a dug up part of a field which is fenced off. They both carry digging tools and are surrounded by others on the ground. 'Lost treasures' of 1904 exhibition found in park Exhibition at Lister Park included a concert hall, railway and a recreation of an African village. 4 days ago 5 days ago [grey-place]Dr Hugh Willmott smiling for the camera beside the excavated Great Hall at Cerne Abbey. He has dark grey short hair and a full dark beard and is wearing a Navy blue open-collar shirt. Behind him is the a large chalky excavation area where two people are working. Archaeologists unearth secrets of medieval abbey Archaeologists return to Cerne Abbas to unearth the medieval abbey and its Anglo Saxon predecessor. 5 days ago --------------------------------------------------------------------- * Home * News * Sport * Business * Innovation * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Weather * BBC Shop * BritBox BBC in other languages Follow BBC on: * Terms of Use * About the BBC * Privacy Policy * Cookies * Accessibility Help * Contact the BBC * Advertise with us * Do not share or sell my info * BBC.com Help & FAQs * Archive Copyright 2025 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.