Archeologists are piecing together the dramatic last moments of two women and three children whose skeletons have been discovered at Pompeii.

Caught up in the terrifying eruption of Mt Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, they sought shelter in the inner room of a villa, wedging a piece of furniture – either a bed or a divan - against the door.

But their attempts at self-preservation were sadly in vain and all five died as the building was engulfed in volcanic ash and collapsed.

The skeletons were discovered in the same villa where archeologists last week found a charcoal inscription that suggested that the eruption of Vesuvius happened in October AD 79, not August of that year, as previously thought.

The women and children would have barricaded themselves inside the house because by then there was no chance of fleeing Pompeii – the ash had been falling for 18 hours, homes were covered in debris and streets were blocked with ash and pumice, said Massimo Osanna, the director of Pompeii.

“The place where they took shelter must have seemed safe,” Prof Osanna said.