The discovery of a young man’s skeleton in ancient Herculaneum has left experts stunned. The 20-year-old’s brain fragments, found in the ruins, have turned into shiny black glass due to extreme heat from Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD.
Volcanologist Guido Giordano and his team studied this phenomenon, which is rare and unexpected. The man was likely overcome by the sudden disaster and did not flee with others who escaped to the sea.
The study highlights a rarely seen effect of pyroclastic flows, high-temperature ash clouds that can blast into an area before rapidly receding. Researchers found patterns in the glassy chunks that align with known neuronal shapes, suggesting that the brain’s complex structures remained intact.
Understanding how extreme heat affects human remains could help experts reconstruct events in ancient and modern disasters. The case challenges previous assumptions about body reactions in high-temperature environments and raises questions about other potential instances of vitrified tissue that may have gone unnoticed.
This discovery could lead to new insights into the effects of pyroclastic flows on the human body, particularly at volcanic sites where high heat and rapid cooling occurred. It also highlights the importance of heat-resistant designs for buildings near active volcanoes, which could allow people a brief chance to escape in case of an eruption.
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/mans-brain-turned-to-glass-after-volcanic-eruption-scientists-think-they-know-why