A man who died in Pompeii during the Mount Vesuvius eruption in A.D. 79, preserved as a void in hardened ash and later as a plaster cast, may have been a Roman medicus, a physician. Researchers using X-rays, CT imaging and 3D reconstruction found that the man’s small case contained metal instruments, a slate tablet likely used to prepare medicines or cosmetics, and a pouch of bronze and silver coins. The objects do not prove his identity beyond doubt, but archaeologists say they point to a physician fleeing the eruption with the tools of his trade. The man was among at least 14 Romans who died in the Garden of the Fugitives, a vineyard that became a mass grave as Vesuvius overwhelmed Pompeii with ash, gas, and heat. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, said in a statement, “This man brought his tools with him to be ready to rebuild his life elsewhere, thanks to his profession, but perhaps also to help others.”