The male figure is relatively intact; the female figure has a slight break in the neck. The archaeologists said that the statues might depict a husband and wife or, equally possible, a mother and son. An inscription identifying the people, if there ever was any, has not survived. The female figure, shown wearing earrings, bracelets, and rings, is a bit taller than the male figure and is shown carrying laurel leaves, which is often a sign of a priestess. As well, the female figure is shown wearing a crescent moon amulet known as a lunula, which was associated with Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility. If that was the case, the experts said, then the man depicted was probably a priest.

The statues, standing at the Porta Sarno necropolis, date to the late Roman Republic, experts said. That is significant because the necropolis remained unused after the ash from an eruption of Mount Vesuvius vaporized Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum in 79 CE.

Archaeologists found the statues in an area first excavated in 1998, in order to make way for a train line from Naples. The tomb that the statues adorn is one of more than four dozen burial sites found at the site. A team has moved the newly found statues to the Palestra Grande, a large open space in Pompeii, and will be featured in an exhibition opening soon.