Mt. Vesuvius Victim’s Brain Turned to Glass

The remains of a young Roman man were uncovered in the ruins of Herculaneum—the other city destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE—in the 1960s. His remains revealed something remarkable that’s never been seen before or since: Soft tissue vitrification.

That’s both the name of my new grindcore band and the term for this never-before-seen occurrence that only adds to the horrors we know those in the vicinity of Vesuvius experienced.

What does it mean?

Parts of this man’s brain and spinal cord were turned to glass by the forces at work during the volcanic eruption.

My question, of course, is how can I get some brain glass for my curiosity cabinet.

But science asked the bigger questions, such as how was that even possible, as the vitrification process requires extreme heat (which would incinerate soft tissue) and then rapid cooling.

A new study purports to have the answer: A hot ash cloud following the eruption that baked the man’s brain to 950 degrees Fahrenheit, then dissipated quickly. Bone surrounding the soft tissue would have protected it from instant obliteration.

Read more in this Smithsonian article by Margherita Bassi.