He Died at Pompeii, but His Head Wasn’t Crushed by a Block (nytimes.com)

So, MUCH luckier than previously thought? ;-)

Annoyingly, the caption of the second photo seems to imply that the man is still considered a danger today. Although the article makes no mention as to why.

  ... (full stop)

  Mt. Vesuvius, continental Europe’s only 
  active volcano, is still considered a 
  danger today.

This story highlights a key problem with science reporting.

How many people are going to read this story correcting the original story? A small fraction.

Every time there's some sensational discovery it's all over the media, but whenever there's a retraction or the study fails to be replicated (another huge problem in modern science), the retraction never gets media attention.

It's pop science at its worst.

Crushed by a block. Thats like dum ways to die. Nearly as bad as poking a stick at a Grizzly Bear.

"They also found that the man had a small sack with an iron key, about 20 silver coins and two bronze coins."

This is exactly what I'd expect to find when searching a skeleton half-buried under a rock in an Elder Scrolls game.