Among them was a young girl found with a charm bracelet, constructed of more than 40 charms from all over the Roman empire. She may have hoped it would bring her good luck. The bracelet would have had "no financial value," says Paul Roberts, "but is a very poignant object, which must have had sentimental value for its owner."

People took things that had personal meaning - a doctor was found with his medical kit, which included scalpels, forceps, and a needle. "We can never know if this was to safeguard the tools of his trade, or a valiant attempt to help the wounded," says Roberts.

One woman was found with bags of crystal beads wholesale, and gold and silver coins - more wealth than found with any other body. Around her neck was a large necklace, or "body chain", which she must have been particularly attached to, as it was the only piece of jewellery she was wearing.

Along with more precious items, there was a single battered earring and fragments of an armlet - suggesting that she didn't have time to carefully choose what she took, but may have simply grabbed or tipped her agate beads into a bag as she fled.

The possessions of another young woman, found outside Pompeii's Nola gate, suggest that superstition and faith played their part as the victims tried desperately to escape from the rising heat and falling pumice.

The "Porta Nola" girl carried a silver statuette of the Egyptian goddess Isis-Fortuna, protective silver amulets including one in the shape of a phallus which was thought to protect against the evil eye, and rings containing icons associated with luck,

It is impossible to know whether she, or any of the victims, grabbed those objects at the last minute, but she had clearly tried to protect herself from bad fortune.

The people of Pompeii and Herculaneum were ordinary people, says Roberts, ranging from the very wealthy to poor slaves, but they died in an extraordinary way. They must have assumed that life would continue as normal, but they were interrupted by a force beyond their control.

And their reactions, he adds, may not have been so different from those of people caught up in recent catastrophes.

Following floods in Buffalo Creek in the US in 1972, sociologist Kai Erikson studied what possessions people took with them as they left their homes. He says they represented "a measure of security, an extension of self, a source of identity", which he describes as "the furniture of the self".

Similar findings followed the 2007 floods which affected the community of Toll Bar in Doncaster.

Residents had little time to choose what to take with them when they were evacuated says Dr Lucy Easthope, an expert in disaster response. In hindsight, she says, they would either laugh or regret their choices.

One woman snatched up her cockatiel as firefighters evacuated her. But she forgot to bring the bird's cage and had to spend hours in the rest centre holding her pet in her arms. Others picked up their televisions, but wished later they had taken precious family photos.

People in Pompeii and Herculaneum were also found with impractical items, says Paul Roberts. Some had bulky silver pots, which would have made it hard to escape with any speed, but would have been seen as a valuable item that they could trade for food or money.