Pompeii skull facial reconstruction. Professor Francesco Silvano Sasso holding a skull from the ruins of the Roman town of Pompeii. Professor Sasso helped to create realistic 3-D facial models for the remains based on the skulls. The skulls were mapped using CT (computed tomography) scans, and knowledge of musculature and tendon size was used to overlay the bones with a realistic layer of flesh. The work contributed to understanding of the inhabitants of Pompeii at the time of its sudden destruction. Pompeii was buried under ash during the eruption of the nearby volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD. Sasso works at the Second University of Naples, Italy.