Illustrator signature must be included in all reproductions Illustration of villagers fleeing from an erupting Mount Vesuvius circa 1995 BCE. This explosion is estimated to have been larger and more destructive than the eruption of 79 CE that destroyed Pompeii. This is the village of Nola-Croce del Papa, which was buried by the eruption and discovered in 2001. Footprints of fleeing humans and animals were preserved, but no human remains were found in the settlement, suggesting that the population had enough warning of the eruption to evacuate. Nola-Croce del Papa is one of several Bronze Age settlements that were destroyed by the eruption.