At the seaward edge of the excavated site, a row of arched boat sheds opens onto what was the ancient shoreline (the sea has since retreated several hundred metres). In the 1980s, excavators clearing these sheds discovered hundreds of skeletons: people who had fled from the town and crowded into the sheds waiting for rescue by boat. They were killed almost instantly by a surge of superheated gas — death so sudden that the bones preserve fine details of clothing, hairstyles, and the objects people were carrying when they died.
The bones are still there, displayed in the sheds where they were found. It is a quiet, sombre place. One shed holds the remains of a soldier, still carrying his sword and tools. Another preserves a woman with gold jewellery and a baby. The contrast between the careful orderliness of the Roman town above and the desperate chaos preserved here is something that stays with you.