According to a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, archaeologists have found vitrified brain material, that is to say transformed into glass, on the site of the ancient city of Pompeii, destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.
The body to which the brain in question belongs was discovered in the 1960s at the Collegium Augustalium in Herculaneum. According to reports, when it was discovered, he was lying on a wooden bed and was covered with volcanic ash. It was not until years later that researchers discovered that the victim’s brain was vitrified instead of being saponified.
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According to Pier Paolo Petrone, who is the first author of the study, it is very rare to discover remains of old brain, but that discovered in Pompeii is the first case of vitrified human brain because of the heat produced by a volcanic eruption.
The probable cause of vitrification
According to the article published by Petrone, vitrification is the process of transforming organic tissue into glass or glaze when exposed to intense heat. In the case of the Vesuvius eruption victim, the heat at the Collegium could very well have reached 520 degrees Celsius, if we refer to the state of charred wood found on the site.
In general, when brain tissue is discovered during archaeological excavations, it is saponified. This process concerns the transformation of triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acids, in other words into soap. This shows how the discovery of the vitrified brain is an extremely rare case.
Archaeologists have also discovered a solidified spongy mass around the bones of the victim’s chest. Petrone explains that the volcanic clouds from Vesuvius were then hot enough to burn the fat and vaporize the soft tissue.
The discovery of brain remains
Petrone has worked on the Herculaneum site since the mid-1990s. However, he only discovered the vitrified brain years after its inception. According to him, he was examining the last of the victims still on the site when he noticed that a kind of shiny dark matter appeared inside the skull.
Upon closer examination, the researcher concluded that these were small black fragments with an appearance reminiscent of glass. These fragments looked like pieces of obsidian, but appeared to be more fragile.
Researchers continue to make discoveries at the site of one of the worst volcanic eruptions in our history. The city of Pompeii was then hit hard and completely destroyed. The residents, on the other hand, were burned and turned to ash by the intense heat of the explosion. Even today, you can see former residents of the city completely statue-like because of the volcanic ash.
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