“Here we demonstrate that material with glassy appearance found within the skull of a seemingly male human body entombed within the hot pyroclastic flow deposits of the 79CE Vesuvius eruption formed by a unique process of vitrification of his brain at very high temperature, and is the only such occurrence on Earth,” the new study noted.
The individual’s skull and spine likely protected the brain from a complete thermal breakdown and allowed fragments of this unique organic glass to form, researchers said.
Scientists analysed fragments of the glass found inside the skull and spinal cord of the individual from Herculaneum, found lying in their bed in the Collegium Augustalium.
A glass-like substance found in the skull of a person who perished in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius has helped archaeologists unravel the sequence of events that wiped out Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79AD.
The only piece of suspected naturally occurring organic glass was found in Herculaneum, Italy, in 2020, but it was unclear how the material had formed.
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