DNA results from Pompeii, published today in Current Biology, are forcing archaeologists to re-evaluate many of their long-held assumptions. For example, researchers had long assumed the huddled forms of two adults and two young children, found together in one of Pompeii’s most luxurious dwellings, were a mother, father, and their children. A golden bracelet weighing half a kilogram on the wrist of one adult with a child on their lap reinforced the idea one adult was a wealthy matron.
“It might be natural to try to help a small child that’s crying and terrified, even if you don’t know that child,” Mittnik says.
Might? Like, I don’t enjoy spending time with kids, most of the time, but no fucking way I wouldn’t try to help them. Also, they’re less likely to cry if you’re comforting them.
