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It Seems the Eruption of Mt Vesuvius Turned A Man’s Brain into Glass
The discovery stunned archeologists who wondered how such a thing was possible
You’re likely familiar with the historically dramatic event of 79 CE, when Italy’s Mount Vesuvius unexpectedly erupted and buried the infamous Roman city of Pompeii and a lesser-known town called Herculaneum with blankets of toxic pyroclastic flow, pumice, and ash.
What captures our imaginations and sets this one apart from the other countless volcanic eruptions over time, is how this catastrophic event maintained much of what it destroyed in exquisite detail — particularly the thousands of preserved inhabitants frozen in their last positions.
But recently, archaeologists discovered something else. The eruption appears to have preserved one person’s brain by turning it into glass. There’s only one issue with this discovery, though. It’s not supposed to be possible.
Initial Discovery
In its wake, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius immortalized Pompeii and Herculaneum by preserving some of their scrolls, frescoes, and, most importantly, the positions and bodies of thousands of inhabitants when they died.
