Herculaneum Man's Brain Turned to Glass in Vesuvius Eruption, Study Shows

A Herculaneum Man's brain apparently turned into glass during the Vesuvius eruption, according to analysis.

The Nearby Town, Herculaneum

While the majority of us associate the Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD 79 with Pompeii, a new research study has shown the devastating effects the event had on residents of Herculaneum, another nearby settlement.

Researchers have discovered proof that the small Roman town was struck by "pyroclastic currents," which are hot, swiftly moving streams of gas together with volcanic particles.

In contrast, a series of weaker currents with temperatures as low as 870°F buried the town under volcanic deposits with a thickness reaching 65 feet.

The first current, estimated to have reached 1,022°F, vaporized the inhabitants in a matter of minutes.

Scientists have previously discovered human tissue that was turned into glass by the event, though the majority of the bodies at Herculaneum were quickly reduced to heaps of ash.

Brain to Glass

The process of vitrification involved burning a man's brain at a high temperature, then rapidly cooling it to transform it into a type of glass.

A group of geologists and scientists from the University of Roma Tre oversaw the new study, which was later published in the journal Scientific Reports.

According to the authors' paper, a surge of ash clouds with temperatures between 555 and 495 °C entered the town as the first pyroclastic current, which was capable of killing people instantly.

Mount Vesuvius Eruption

Up to 16,000 people were killed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, destroying the towns of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Torre Annunziata, and Stabiae.

After the eruption, the victims' bodies at Pompeii were infamously protected by an ash shell before eventually decomposing.

Since the middle of the 19th century, plaster casts have been used to reconstruct the spaces that these bodies left behind.

In contrast, the bodies of people who had died in Herculaneum were poorly preserved, and the researchers sought to determine why.

Vitrification in Herculaneum

To measure the intensity of energy absorption, the researchers used reflectance analysis to examine carbonized wood samples they had collected from five different locations throughout Herculaneum.

The samples displayed signs of having been exposed to a pyroclastic current and a very hot gas for a brief period of time.

The first to cover at Herculaneum had a minimum temperature of 1,022°F, though the team believes it was higher.

There were at least two cooler currents that came after it, with temperatures ranging from 600 to 870 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving thicker volcanic deposits on the ground.

With the aid of these discoveries, the team was able to comprehend the circumstances surrounding the formation and preservation of the vitrified brain discovered in a victim's skull in the Collegium Augustalium in 2020.

This was a unique case because most victims at Herculaneum were likely to be instantly vaporized; instead, his brain had been burned at a high temperature and then rapidly cooled, turning it into a material close to glass that is solid and shiny.

According to the experts' paper, it was only feasible if the heating event was brief, preventing the tissue from being completely vaporized.

This way, once the diluted current has disappeared, the body won't be completely encased in a hot deposit, which is a requirement for the extremely quick cooling needed to achieve vitrification.

Pompeii Bodies vs. Herculaneum Bodies

The team also notes that many bodies at Pompeii displayed the typical post-mortem posture known as the "boxer position" or "pugilistic attitude," which includes flexed knees and elbows in addition to clenched fists.

The tissues and muscles of bodies exposed to high temperatures frequently contract and become dehydrated, leading to this state.

However, if temperatures were so high to quickly vaporize this flesh off of the bone, as was the case in Herculaneum, this does not happen.

If Vesuvius erupted again, the team contends that their findings should be one of caution to contemporary residents of Naples, a city that is near enough to feel the impact of a pyroclastic current, Daily Mail reported.

The American Museum of Natural History estimated that a million people currently reside in the volcano's current blast zone.