New excavations at Pompeii reveal that the city was reinhabited by survivors for centuries after the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption.

The cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius obliterated Pompeii in 79 CE, but the Roman city didn’t remain a lifeless disaster zone for long. According to new research published in the E-Journal of the Excavations of Pompeii, a handful of survivors, destitute wanderers, and treasure hunters continued to call the ruins home for decades.

Archaeologists believe survivors were joined by others looking for a place to settle and hoping to find valuable items left by Pompeii's earlier residents in the rubble.

In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted in what would become one of humanity’s most infamous ancient tragedies. Tens of centuries later, archaeologists eagerly dug through the ash and pumice to rediscover the buried Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in all their preserved glory.

Pompeii wasn't just buried in ash and forgotten for centuries until the 16th century. Archaeologists say new findings support the idea that people resettled among the ruins of the Roman city after Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.