CHICAGO (AFP) - As the fury of Mount Vesuvius rained down on the ancient city of Pompeii, a small dog tried to save himself by climbing the steadily rising piles of ash and pumice stones.
But the chain attached to his neck proved to be his undoing: 12 hours later his horrific death was frozen in time by the very ash and volcanic gas that smothered him.
The twisted body of the dog is just one of the gruesome casts displayed at Chicago's Field Museum as part of a traveling exhibit that tells the story of the famous eruption that destroyed the Roman city in 79 AD.
The volcanic ash that buried Pompeii and the neighboring resort of Herculaneum preserved the towns so perfectly that excavators were even able to find carbonized loaves of bread in a bakery, offering an unprecedented window into the daily life of ancient Romans.
Read more: Exhibit displays gruesome casts of Pompeii's dead - Yahoo! News
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