A new study has shattered historians' long-held assumptions about some of the people who died in Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 C.E.

A new study— published in Current Biology by a team of researchers at Harvard University and the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in Naples, Italy—asserts that ancient DNA taken from some of the victims challenges stories long told about those particular Pompeii citizens.

FILE – Jewelry found in the ruins of a house in Pompeii are displayed, backdropped by the casts of two adults and two children who died together in the house in Pompeii, at the exhibition, “Life and death Pompeii and Herculaneum,” at the British Museum in central London, March 26, 2013.

New DNA evidence from Pompeii’s body casts reveals that traditional assumptions about residents’ relationships and origins were often incorrect, showing instead a diverse population with roots in the eastern Mediterranean.

A recent DNA study has upended long-held theories about the people who died in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, revealing unexpected details about the demographics and connections among the victims.