Thursday, January 23, 2020

Archaeological Discovery: Volcanic Eruptions Can Turn Your Brain Into Glass

Everyone has heard of Pompeii, fewer of Herculaneum, another city also buried in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in October 79 AD.

Herculaneum, on the other hand, is less well-known, mainly because while Pompeii got the ash of about 4-6 meters worth which was easier to remove, Herculaneum got 25 meters of ash and was buried beneath it, along with a heavy pyroclastic surge that instantly toasted the remaining inhabitants but unlike at Pompeii it carbonized and preserved wood in objects such as roofs, beds and doors but turned the people there into skeletons rather than covering them in ash as at Pompeii.

Lots of interesting discoveries have come from both Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Herculaneum has surviving two-story Roman villas, as well as some preserved scrolls that scientists are still trying to be able to safely unroll and read, and many other well-preserved ancient artifacts.

The most recent discovery is that the pyroclastic flow didn't just kill people at Herculaneum by heat, it killed them with so much immediate heat that it vitrified the victim's brains, turning their brains into glass.

The Detroit News: Mount Vesuvius blast turned ancient victim’s brain to glass

1 comment:

drjim said...

My wife has always been extremely interested in Pompeii, and was fortunate enough to see it last year.

And they also made a trip to Herculaneum, which she already knew about. I'd heard of it, but not being as interested in antiquities as my wife is, didn't give it much thought.

Geez...."Vitrified Brains"....sounds like a punk rock band!