Pompeii Casts. Victim 56 found outside the Porta Nola between the 2nd of August and 21st September 1976.

NGOF Pompeii. 1979. Plan of location of 15 bodies found by the tomb of Obellius Firmus. Plan after Stefano De Caro.

Victim 56 is number 3

See De Caro S., 1979. Scavi nell’area fuori Porta Nola a Pompei: Cronache Pompeiane V, (p. 62, fig. 1).

Victim 56. Cast of victim.

See Alapont L, Gallello G, Martinón-Torres M, Osanna M, Amoretti V, Chenery S, et al. (2023) The casts of Pompeii: Post-depositional methodological insights. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0289378, fig. 1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289378

Porta Nola Pompeii. Press photo dated 18th September 1976 of body casts "Discovered this week on the outskirts of Pompeii".

The photo has been touched in in places for publication so it is difficult to be certain but comparing with the plan above could suggest: victim 56 rear to the left? Victim 57 with arm outstretched? Victim 61 on the lower right? Victim number 5 with the sheathed knife, recorded by De Caro, would have been in this group also.

Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Victim 56 is an adult over 20 years of age, but the sex has not been determined.

The body was found between the 2nd of August and 21st September 1976 outside Porta Nola, near the tomb of M. Obellius Firmus.

The drapery of a woollen robe can be recognized on the bust, on the stomach, on both thighs and on the lower part of the right leg.

On the feet it seems possible to recognize traces of footwear (sandals?) that leave the toes exposed.

See Osanna, N., Capurso, A., e Masseroli, S. M., 2021. I Calchi di Pompei da Giuseppe Fiorelli ad oggi: Studi e Ricerche del PAP 46, p. 452-3, Calco n. 56.

Victim 56. Location of casts from Porta Nola.

(a) Original position of some of the studied Porta Nola casts (#57, #62, #58, #54, #55). (b) Map of Pompeii. (c) Detail of casts discovery area (I: Burials of Praetorians; II: Modern Masonries; III: Tomb of Obellius Firmus; IV: Porta Nola; V: Leakpan; VI: Tomb of Esquilia Polla; VII: Anonymous Tomb).

Photo courtesy of The Casts of Pompeii Project. Use subject to CC BY 4.0 Deed

See Alapont L, Gallello G, Martinón-Torres M, Osanna M, Amoretti V, Chenery S, et al. (2023) The casts of Pompeii: Post-depositional methodological insights. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0289378, fig. 1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289378

Nola Gate Tombs, Pompeii, March 2009. View from above. Large iron knife in a bronze and wooden sheath.

Found near Porta Nola in 1976. SAP inventory number 17047.

Man no. 5 had on the left a sheathed dagger (fig. 27) and the scabbard (fig. 28) empty of a second smaller blade: at the feet shoes with a nailed sole.

See De Caro S., 1979. Scavi nell’area fuori Porta Nola a Pompei: Cronache Pompeiane V, p. 99, fig. 27.