Vesuvius transformed one victim's brain into glass

Five years ago, Italian researchers published a study on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. This detailed the blast victim, a man estimated to be in his mid-20s, was found nearby in the seaside settlement of Herculaneum. He lay with his face on his face and was buried in ashes in a wooden bed at the University of Augustres, a public building dedicated to the worship of Emperor Augustres. Some scholars believe that this man was the caretaker of the center and was asleep during the disaster.

In 2018, one researcher discovered a black shiny fragment embedded inside the caretaker's skull. The paper, published in 2020, speculated that the heat of the explosion was so immeasurable that it fused the victim's brain tissue into glass.

Forensic analysis of obsidian-like chips reveals proteins commonly found in brain tissue and fatty acids found in human hair, but chunks of carbonized wood excavated near the skeleton show measurements of 968 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the only known instance of soft tissue and is naturally preserved as glass.

A paper published in Nature on Thursday confirmed that the fragments were indeed vitrified brains. Scientists used techniques such as electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry to examine the physical properties of samples taken from glassy fragments and demonstrate how they were formed and preserved. “Unique discoveries imply a unique process,” said Guido Giordano, a volcanologist at the University of Roma TRE and lead author of the new study.

The most important of these processes is that the material is burned at high heat until it is liquefied. To stick to glass, the material needs to be rapidly cooled and solidified at a temperature higher than its surroundings. This makes the organic glass layers challenging, Dr. Giordano said that intriification involves very specific temperature conditions and requires cooling quickly enough to avoid crystallizing when the liquid form solidifies.

Dr. Giordano and his colleagues speculated that shortly after Vesubius began betting debris, a cloud of steaming toxicity of ash and white pumice flashed through the Herculaneum, killing the inhabitants immediately. Claudio Scarpati, a volcanologist at the University of Naples Federico II, proposes that this so-called thermally flame-density current is the third of the 17th to be spewed out of Vesuvius.

The pulsation of cold volcanic debris continued, engulfing the area. “The residents of Herculaneum were already dead by the time they were buried,” Dr. Giordano said.

The short-lived ashes clouds remained only 1-2 inches of debris, but with little structural damage, they are said to have heated the caretaker's brain well above 950 degrees. This caused the soft tissue to break into small pieces without being destroyed. Dr. Giordano said the man's skull and spinal bones probably protected the brain to some extent.

Once the ash cloud disappeared, the temperature quickly returned to normal. Outdoors, the caretaker's brains were combined into glass at 950 degrees. Only parts of the body containing a certain liquid can be vitrifive, Dr. Giordano said, which is why the caretaker's bones remained intact.

The 2020 study was primarily plagued with skepticism by other scientists, as raw data was unavailable. Tim Thompson, a forensic anthropologist at Maynooth University in Ireland, was perhaps the most vocal suspect. This time, the results piqued him off. “I really enjoy seeing new scientific methods applied to archaeological contexts,” he said.

However, Dr. Thompson wants to see more evidence and more original data. It depends on whether the material is the brain. ”