Discovery of Pompeii: an ancient city reveals a macabre secret

Archaeologists from the ancient city of Pompeii discovered undisturbed skeletons of a small group of people who had sheltered from the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The Roman city was devastated as a result of the eruption, with Pompeii quickly buried under volcanic ash, killing about 2,000 of its inhabitants, according to History.com.

The director of the archaeological site of Pompeii, Massimo Osanna, told the Italian news agency ANSA Wednesday that the skeletons were still intact, not having been disturbed, despite the looting on the site there are several centuries.

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Osanna called it "shocking discovery, but also very important for the story".

The bones – supposed to be those of two women and three children – were found in a house with a charcoal inscription that, according to historians, dates from the deadly eruption in October, two months later than expected .

Archaeologists believe that locals sought safety in a small room but were crushed when the roof collapsed or burned.

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The skull of a victim, crushed by roof tiles, rests alongside the upper and lower limbs of another individual, according to an article posted on Facebook by officials of the archaeological site.

The remains of a ring and other small items have also been found. Archaeologists believe that the room offered shelter from the first stage of the eruption, when lapilli or fragments of rock fell on Pompeii. "They were then caught in one of the pyroclastic flows that submerged the rooms of the house," officials said in an article posted on Facebook. This caused the collapse of the roof and the upper part of the north wall of the room, they added.

The site of the ancient city remained intact for more than 1500 years until its rediscovery in the 18th century. In the 19th century, archaeologists used plaster to make casts in vacuum cleaners surrounding skeletons found in the compacted layer of ash. Left behind by the decomposition of organic remains, the vacuum cleaners offer a disturbing snapshot of the last moments of the victims. National Geographic notes that the realistic poses of plaster casts show some victims, for example, crawling or sitting, their heads in their hands.

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The newly discovered skeletons are just the last fascinating discovery of Pompeii.

Earlier this year, images of a man's skeleton, apparently crushed by a rock during the eruption, became viral after their discovery. Archaeologists have also recently discovered the resting place of an ancient racehorse among the ruins of Pompeii.

A new study recently revealed that, during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the intense heat caused the explosion of the skull and the boiling of the victims' blood.

Chris Ciaccia of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers