An expedition to the site of the largest volcanic eruption in modern times - in Indonesia - has uncovered a lost kingdom.

More than 100,000 people died when Mount Tambora erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa in 1815.

Remains of a house with two occupants buried under ash have been unearthed for the first time in a discovery hailed the "Pompeii of the East".

Scientists say bronze bowls, ceramic pots and other recovered artefacts shed light on an old Indonesian culture.

"All the people, their houses and culture are still encapsulated there as they were in 1815. It's important that we keep that capsule intact and open it very carefully," archeologists said.

Objects discovered so far, particularly the bronze objects, suggest the Tamborans were wealthy people with links to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Their language was probably related to that of the Mon-Khmer group of languages that are now scattered across Southeast Asia.

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