Mount Vesuvius Eruption Turned Man’s Brain to Glass in 79 AD, Here’s How- wna24

New Delhi: Scientists were stunned to find dark fragments resembling obsidian in the skull of a man who died in ancient city of Herculaneum during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The eruption had somehow transformed his brain into glass.

This is the only known case of such a phenomenon, and researchers have now uncovered why and how it occurred.

Researchers believe the vitrification of the victim’s brain was caused by a searing ash cloud that quickly enveloped the city, instantly killing its residents.

They concluded vitrification took place through a unique process of rapid exposure of the brain’s organic material to a very high temperature – at least 510 degrees Celsius (950 degrees F) – and its subsequent rapid cooling.

They conducted an extensive analysis that confirmed the glass nature of the fragments and revealed their physical properties.

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Forensic anthropologist, Pier Paolo Petrone of Universita di Napoli Federico II, said, “The glass formed as a result of this process allowed for an integral preservation of the biological brain material and its microstructures,”

The eruption obliterated the thriving ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Petrone said, “The only other type of organic glass we have evidence of is that produced in some rare cases of vitrification of wood, sporadic cases of which have been found at Herculaneum and Pompeii. However, in no other case in the world have vitrified organic human or animal remains ever been found,” 

Thousands of people were killed and the two cities were buried under a thick layer of volcanic material and mud, sitting untouched until their rediscovery in the 18th century. Victims were preserved in sudden death, as was the case with the one whose brain was turned to glass.

His body was first discovered in the 1960s inside a building called the College of the Augustales dedicated to the cult of Emperor Augustus, who had died in 14 AD. The individual was identified as a young man believed to have been the college’s custodian. The remains were re-examined in 2018.

Petrone said, “I was in the room where the college’s custodian was lying in his bed to document his charred bones. Under the lamp, I suddenly saw small glassy remains glittering in the volcanic ash that filled the skull,” 

“Taking one of these fragments, it had a black appearance and shiny surfaces quite similar to obsidian, a natural glass of volcanic origin – black and shiny, whose formation is due to the very rapid cooling of the lava. But, unlike obsidian, the glassy remains were extremely brittle and easy to crumble,” Petrone added.

Previous analyses published in scientific journals have identified proteins and fatty acids typically found in human brain tissue. The central nervous system is exceptionally well-preserved, with nerve cells linked by a dense network of axonal fibers.

The research is forging a deeper understanding of how the tragic events unfolded after the eruption.

“The study shows that the ‘killer’ at Herculaneum was the arrival in town of an early hot ash cloud. This highlights the importance of understanding the behavior of ash clouds, as they are very hazardous and still very poorly studied and understood,” said volcanologist and study first author Guido Giordano of Roma Tre University in Italy.

The actual burial of the city occurred in later stages of the eruption.

The custodian at apparently around midnight was surprised while sleeping in his bed by the first effects of the eruption.

“As the postures of the victims’ bodies show, the custodian of the college died instantly from the impact with the hot volcanic ash surge, as did all the rest of the inhabitants of Herculaneum,” Petrone said. “The body of evidence found for the victims at Herculaneum shows that all people died instantly, so they did not have time to notice or suffer.”