ROME —
Archaeologists at Pompeii have discovered the
remains of a small, pregnant tortoise, who died before Mount Vesuvius erupted
in AD79 and destroyed the city.
اضافة اعلان
The 14cm long
reptile provides more clues to the final phase of the city, which was being rebuilt
after an earthquake in AD62.
The pregnant
“Testudo hermanni” appears to have buried into a ruined, unused shop as a safe
space to lay her egg but died with her egg still inside her.
“The animal’s
intrusion was not noticed by those in charge of the shop’s refurbishment and
its remains were covered up unseen,” the Pompeii archaeological park said in a
statement.
Pompeii saw
large-scale rebuilding after the powerful quake, which caused major damage.
“When many houses
were being rebuilt — the whole city was a building site — evidently some spaces
were so little utilized that wild animals could move around and enter and try
to find a place to lay eggs,” said Pompeii’s director general, Gabriel
Zuchtriegel.
The tortoise was
found near Pompeii’s Stabian Baths complex, which was expanded following the
earthquake.
The giant eruption
of Vesuvius, nearly 2,000 years ago, devastated the ancient city, covering
everything in its path with volcanic ash.
That sediment
helped to preserve many buildings in almost their original state, as well as
the curled-up corpses of Vesuvius’ victims.
Pompeii is Italy’s second most visited tourist destination
after the Colosseum in Rome.
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