Archaeologists at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a victim of the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history’s most famous natural disasters.

The digital portrait represents an older man who was among two victims discovered as they attempted to flee the city towards the coast of what is now Italy during the volcanic eruption. Researchers...