Restoring 'petrified' remains from a volcanic disaster 2,000 years ago.

Scientists have for the first time restored "petrified" bodies, including images of a mother and child in a state of panic, from the volcanic catastrophe that buried the Italian city of Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago.

Image of a baby and mother during the Pompeii disaster. Photo: Splash News

At the Pompeii archaeological excavation site, the research team is restoring 86 petrified statues. These are victims of a natural disaster more than 1,900 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted violently in 79 AD, burying the city of Pompeii under thick layers of rock and ash.

Over the years, archaeologists have discovered hollow spaces beneath layers of volcanic ash, where victims were buried. They filled these spaces with plaster to create the outlines of the deceased. Among them is the image of a child sitting on his mother's stomach, while the mother appears terrified. This may be a boy, around 4 years old, who was sheltering with his family when the disaster struck.

The team of experts said that based on the shapes of the plaster statues, they could determine which victims were trapped in the shelter with their families, indicating whether they were dead or terrified.

According to the Mirror, a 2010 study indicated that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius generated temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius. Along with Herculaneum, the city of Pompeii was destroyed, and thousands of people were buried alive. Explaining the distorted postures of the bodies, volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo suggested that this was not the effect of a prolonged death throes, but possibly due to thermal shock.

According to VnExpress