If Mount Vesuvius Erupted in August, Why Were Pompeii Victims Wearing Heavy Wool Garments?

New research finds that at least four individuals who died in the eruption were wearing woolen tunics and cloaks, which raises questions about the presumed date of the famous catastrophe

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

December 18, 2025

A man standing near plaster casts of human bodies — Llorenç Alapont, an archaeologist at the University of Valencia, led the recent research on plaster casts of Pompeii victims. University of Valencia

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E., it famously blanketed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in ash and volcanic debris. Based on historical records, researchers have long assumed the volcano erupted in late August—but new research is complicating that timeline.

At least four individuals who died in the natural disaster were wearing clothing made out of thick wool—a fabric often associated with winterwear. Researchers from the University of Valencia presented their findings in late November at an archaeological conference in Italy, according to a recent statement.

A man standing next to a plaster cast of a human body near a tunnel — Researchers have now made more than 100 plaster casts of Pompeii victims using a technique developed by Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli in the mid-19th century. University of Valencia

For the study, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, scientists revisited some of the plaster casts made of Pompeii victims. They analyzed 14 of the casts, paying special attention to the weave of any fabric imprints they found on the plaster.

Their analysis suggests several Pompeii victims—some who died inside, others who died outside—were wearing a two-piece outfit featuring a woolen tunic and cloak when they died. Researchers still aren’t sure why they were wearing such clothing. Their garments might signal that Vesuvius erupted in a different, colder month. It’s also possible that the volcano erupted in August, as long assumed, but that the region was experiencing an unseasonably cold period. Alternatively, perhaps the victims were wearing wool specifically to protect themselves from the high heat, gases and fallen ash from the eruption, which lasted for an estimated 18 hours.

Another theory? They were wearing wool simply because “that’s what people wore at that time,” says Pedar Foss, an archaeologist at DePauw University who was not involved with the research, to Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe. “About 90 percent of all clothing anywhere was wool.”

Other materials—like flax linen, cotton and silk—were available at the time, but they tended to be more delicate or were reserved only for the wealthy elite. Wool, meanwhile, was hardy, warm and fairly inexpensive.

Quick fact: The towers belonging to Pompeii’s elite

Archaeologists think wealthy residents of the ancient city may have built towers on top of their villas as symbols of affluence and power.

The late August eruption date stems largely from letters written by Pliny the Younger. The Roman author and administrator witnessed the disaster as a teenager but did not write about it for roughly 30 years. In letters to Tacitus, a Roman historian and politician, Pliny the Younger wrote that the eruption took place on August 24.

However, the date is still a source of debate. Some scholars point to seemingly contradictory evidence discovered at the site, including fruits that would have only been available in the fall, wine fermenting in clay vessels and a fragile inscription dated to mid-October.

This is not the first time researchers have discovered evidence that suggests victims were wearing wool clothing during their final hours on earth. In 2020, archaeologists found the remains of two men who appear to have survived the initial eruption but died during a second blast the next day. Plaster casts revealed that one of the men was likely wearing a woolen cloak, while the other was probably wearing a short, pleated tunic.

Researchers have now made more than 100 plaster casts of Pompeii victims, using a technique developed by Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli in the mid-19th century.

“It is impossible to see those deformed figures, and not feel moved,” wrote Italian author Luigi Settembrini in 1863, according to the Pompeii Archaeological Park. “They have been dead for 18 centuries, but they are human beings seen in their agony. This is not art, it is not imitation; these are their bones, the remains of their flesh and their clothes mixed with plaster. It is the pain of death that takes on body and form.”

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