Scientists from the University of Rome Tre and Federico II in Naples discovered that the bodies of the inhabitants of the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum evaporated during the eruption of Vesuvius. Research published scientific reports.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman city of Pompeii and its inhabitants were buried alive under the ashes. However, the nearby city of Herculaneum was razed to the ground and few traces of its inhabitants were found.
In 2018, archaeologists uncovered the first tangible evidence that the soft tissues and blood of the city’s inhabitants instantly boiled under the intense heat of a volcanic eruption, and their skulls exploded from the inside. In 2020, archaeologists identified another skull found at the site. It contained fragments of a vitreous material that led them to believe that the human brain was vitrified, that is, turned into glass.
In a new study, scientists set out to reconstruct the extreme temperatures experienced by the inhabitants of Herculaneum.
They analyzed 40 charred wood samples excavated at five different sites in the ancient city in the 1960s. The scientists found that temperatures initially exceeded 500°C and may have reached 555°C. These temperatures could have caused instant death in humans, leaving only a few ash piles on the ground. Signs of the highest temperature signals were found in wood samples north of the city where the vitreous brain was found.
Another eruption of Vesuvius was not ruled out. The researchers believe that buildings in the volcano’s “red zone”, which is home to about 700,000 people, should be retrofitted to protect residents from the heat effects of possible future eruptions if they are not evacuated in time.