New evidence debunks old myths about Pompeii casts

It is a tragic moment, frozen in time: a family of four shelters beneath a staircase as ash and pumice rains down on Pompeii.

- Nicola Davis

But now scientists studying DNA from the victims say this scene is not what it seems, with the "mother" of the group actually a man.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, the Roman town of Pompeii was destroyed, its remaining inhabitants buried beneath a thick blanket of ash and pumice. These victims were later immortalised by archaeologists who used plaster to fill the voids left by their bodies.

Now researchers say DNA evidence debunks long-held assumptions about the identity and relationships of those captured in the casts.