The skeleton of a man crushed by an enormous stone as he attempted to flee the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD has been discovered at the Pompeii archaeological site in Southern Italy.

A photograph showing the bones protruding from beneath a large block of stone that may have been a door jamb which had been “violently thrown by the volcanic cloud”.

“A formidable stone block (perhaps a door jamb), violently thrown by the volcanic cloud, collided with his upper body, crushing the highest part of the thorax and yet-to-be-identified head, which probably lies under the stone block,” archaeologists said in a statement.

The victim, who was estimated to be over 30, had his thorax crushed. Archaeologists have not found the head.

Officials said the man had suffered from a leg infection that may have caused walking difficulties and thus impeded his escape.

The man's ancient remains were uncovered in an area of new excavations, near a newly-discovered alleyway of balconied houses.

The archaeological site’s general director, Massimo Osanna, called it “an exceptional find” that contributes to a better “picture of the history and civilisation of the age”.

Earlier this month, archeologists were searching the remains of a large roman villa and found the carbonised remains of a horse which also died during the eruption of Vesuvius - in another unusual discovery.

Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius Show all 10 1 /10 Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A marble statue of Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and love, found in the volcanic remains of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A marble statue depicting the god Hermes, found in the volcanic remains of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A funerary marble statue, unearthed after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A mosaic fountain, unearthed after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A detail from a mosaic fountain, unearthed after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A bronze gladiator's helmet, found in the volcanic remains of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A marble statue of Polyhymnia, one of the nine muses of Greek mythology, found in the volcanic remains of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius The body cast of a pig, found in the volcanic remains of Mount Vesuvius that erupted and wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A detail painting on a garden wall of a child angel, unearthed after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP Pompeii: Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius A marble wall relief of mythical god Neptune, unearthed after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii more than 2000 years ago AP

Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum were not killed by lava.

Instead it was a huge cloud of hot gas and fragments called a pyroclastic flow which engulfed the city burying them in ash and preserving their final moments.