One of the human casts found nearly 65 years ago in Pompeii’s Garden of the Fugitives was a doctor caught amongst the fleeing crowd with a case of medical equipment, Pompeii Archaeological Park revealed in a statement earlier this week.

The doctor’s identity followed a new analysis of archaeological finds kept in the park’s storage warehouses - including a small case that had been hidden within the cast of one of the victims from the garden.

According to the park, the box is made of “organic material with metal elements” and holds a fabric bag filled with bronze and silver coins, and a “series of instruments compatible with a medical kit.”

Through X-ray and CT scans conducted at the Casa di Cura Maria Rosaria nursing home located in Pompeii, researchers were able to clearly define the medical instruments. Inside the case, they found a small slate tablet used to prepare medical or cosmetic substances, and small metal instruments believed to be surgical tools.

Further, the CT scans also showed previously unknown details of the case, including its sophisticated closing mechanism, which features a toothed wheel.

“Already two thousand years ago, there were those who did not practice medicine only during consulting hours, but who were simply doctors at all times, even at the moment of fleeing the eruption, thwarted by the pyroclastic cloud that struck the group of fugitives trying to leave the city through Porta Nocera,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park.

“This man carried his tools with him to be ready to rebuild a life elsewhere, thanks to his profession, but perhaps also to help others,” Zuchtriegel added. “We dedicate this small but significant discovery to all the women and men who today continue to carry out this profession with a very high sense of responsibility and service to the community.”

Located in the southeastern section of Pompeii Archaeological Park, the Garden of the Fugitives had once been part of a flourishing insula, or city block, but had been converted into a vineyard in the years leading up to Vesuvius’ eruption. 

The vineyard had included a covered triclinium, an ancient Roman formal dining room that was made up of three couches arranged around a central table, meant for outdoor banquets.

The site was discovered in 1961 by Italian archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri and his team, uncovering a total of 13 human casts, belonging to both adults and children.

To date, several other casts from the garden have been identified by researchers, including a merchant, through the bones of his wrist; a mother and her two children, aged two and five; a young couple and their infant daughter (12-14 months), deemed the youngest victim found in Pompeii; and a teenage servant.

All 13 are believed to have been killed by the eruption’s pyroclastic cloud in their desperate attempt to escape through the city’s southern Nocera Gate.

The casts of the 13 victims can be viewed today near the back wall of the garden, encased in glass.

In late April, Italian archaeologists working with the archaeological park used artificial intelligence to reconstruct the appearance of one of the victims for the first time, based on remains recently discovered just outside one of the city’s southern gates.

The use of AI in such a project sparked a wave of mixed feedback online.

While some praised the archaeological use of AI to reconstruct the individual’s features, others slammed the act, arguing that artificial intelligence cannot replicate humanity, and asked why the park did not reach out to local artists to depict the individual instead.

The remains were found lying next to a terracotta mortar that he presumably used as protection.

Archaeologists believe the man was killed by a shower of volcanic rocks in the early hours of the second day of the eruption while trying to escape towards the sea.

He was also carrying a lamp and 10 bronze coins, the park said.

Reuters contributed to this report.