Italian researchers recently disclosed how a man’s brain turned into glass, likely caused by a volcanic ash cloud around two thousand years ago.
In 79 AD, the eruption of Vesuvius buried the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under a dense mixture of rocks, gases, and hot ashes known as a pyroclastic flow.
The Italian anthropologist Pier Paolo Petrone noted that the body of a young man around 20 years old found charred on a wooden bed in Herculaneum displayed unique characteristics.
The scientist observed “something remarkable in the fractured skull” during the examination and discovered that the brain remnants had turned into fragments of black glass.
Fragments up to one centimeter wide contain intricate neuron networks that are clearly visible in the glass, which was described as surprising and unexpected by vulcanologist Guido Giordano, a co-author of the study.
Scientists are interested in the discovery because the glass is seldom found in nature and requires extremely high temperatures and rapid cooling to be formed.
The study suggests that the brain of the young Roman is a unique example of an animal fabric turned into glass.
The primary theory is that it was subjected to a temperature above 510°C and then rapidly cooled down.
The most likely situation is that Vesuvius emitted an initial cloud of hot ashes that quickly spread out. This theory is supported by the discovery of a thin layer of ashes that coated the city before being covered by the pyroclastic flow.