UNLOCK THE ANCIENT SECRETS. KEIR SIMMONS HAS THE STORY.
>> GOOD MORNING.
IT IS STUNNING.
THEY ARE FINDING THINGS IN
POMPEII THAT HAVE LAIN
UNDISCOVERED FOR 2000 YEARS.
INCLUDING THIS MURAL.
THEY EVEN FOUND A HORSE SADDLED
UP AS IF IT WAS READY TO HELP
ITS OWNER ESCAPE OR TRY AND
RESCUE PEOPLE, AND LISTEN TO
THIS.
THIS. THEY’RE UNCOVERING THIS HISTORY
USING 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY.
THE VOLCANO VESUVIUS ERUPTED AND
BROUGHT HORROR.
BROUGHT HORROR. AT 12:00 NOON DISASTER STRUCK.
A MASSIVE EXPLOSION OF MOLTEN
ROCK FLYING INTO THE AIR.
HISTORY WAS WRITTEN BUT MANY
QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED.
NOW MODERN SCIENCE MAKING
AMAZING NEW FINDS IS HELPING TO
EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THAT
VOLCANO FIRE MANAGED HERE IN THE
MOVIE "POMPEII" CAME DOWN FROM
THE SKY.
THE SKY. IT FELL HERE AMONG THE HORRIFIED
PEOPLE OF POMPEII.
BURNING ASH RAINING DOWN ON THE
CITY.
CITY. IT MUFF SEEMED LIKE THE END OF
THE WORLD.
THE WORLD. POMPEII WAS DESTROYED.
ITS STREETS, THE GRAND HOUSES,
AND THE PEOPLE BURIED BENEATH AN
AVALANCHE OF ASH.
>> EVERYTHING WAS COVERED WITH
THIS ASH.
THIS ASH. >> Reporter: 2000 YEARS LATER A
CHIEF ARCHAEOLOGIST AND HIS TEAM
ARE DIGGING OUT AN UNEXPLORED
SECTION OF THE CITY.
ARCHAEOLOGY USED TO BE ABOUT
DIGGING MY HAND.
IT STILL IS, BUT THEY’RE USING
TECHNOLOGY TO SOLVE POMPEII’S
FIRST CENTURY SECRETS.
>> WE ARE IN THE ERA OF THE
DIGITALIZATION.
DIGITALIZATION. LASER SCANNING.
LASER SCANNING. AND THE DRONE.
>> Reporter: THE EXCAVATED CITY
OFFERS A SNAPSHOT OF ROMAN
EXISTENCE.
EXISTENCE. >> A WAY TO TOUCH THE PAST IN
THE DAYTY LIFE OF THE POMPEII
PERSON IN THE FIRST CENTURY.
>> Reporter: FROM VILLAS TO THE
BASICS OF LIFE.
>> IT’S BREAD.
>> Reporter: AND EVEN ANCIENT
POLITICAL GRAFFITI.
POLITICAL GRAFFITI. HERE WRITING WITH A DATE,
OCTOBER 17TH.
OCTOBER 17TH. IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT. IT INDICATES THE ERUPTION
HAPPENED TWO MONTHS LATER.
THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THOUGHT.
IN THE SAME BUILDING MULTIPLE
BODIES.
BODIES. BUT WHO WERE THEY?
NOW THE PROFESSOR AND HIS TEAM
ARE USING THE LATEST TECHNIQUES
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE
VICTIMS OF THE VOLCANO LIKE THIS
MAN.
MAN. FOUND BURIED BENEATH A BLOCK OF
MASONRY.
MASONRY. >> HE TRIED TO ESCAPE WITH A FEW
COINS, NOT REALLY A HUGE AMOUNT
OF MONEY.
OF MONEY. WE UNDERSTAND THIS PERSON.
NOW FOR THE SKELETON, WE STARTED
WITH THE DNA ANALYSIS, AND WE
WILL KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS
BIOGRAPHY.
BIOGRAPHY. >> Reporter: AND ANOTHER SKULL
AND MORE CSI.
SCIENTISTS COMPARING ISOTOPES IN
THE TEETH WITH THOSE FROM THE
SOIL IN A SMALL TOWN IN ITALY.
>> ACCORDING TO TRADITION, THE
SKULL BELONGS --
>> Reporter: COULD THIS BE ONE
OF THE ADMIRAL HEROS TO DIED
TRYING TO RESCUE PEOPLE FROM THE
DISASTER ZONE?
DISASTER ZONE? WE SHOULD SOON HAVE THE ANSWER
AND PERHAPS THE ANSWER TO
POMPEII’S GREATEST MYSTERY.
IN TOTAL 1,000 BODIES HAVE BEEN
RECOVERED, BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO
EVERYONE ELSE?
EVERYONE ELSE? >> THE POPULATION OF ANCIENT
POPULATION WAS 30,000.
INSIDE A TOWN --
>> THEY ARE OUT THERE SOMEWHERE