Manila Bulletin
Philippines
Researchers discover preserved brains of fatalities in 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius eruption
Philippines
Researchers discover preserved brains of fatalities in 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius eruption
Researchers discover preserved brains of fatalities in 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius eruption
Published Jan 24, 2020 12:00 am
By Rizal Obanil
The brains of romans who resided in Pompeii, Herculanem and Oplontis in 79 A.D. were seemingly preserved in time capsules, researchers recently discovered.
Crater of Mt. Vesuvius in 2012 (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Pier Paolo Petrone of the University of Naples Federico II and his colleague in an article for the New England Journal of Mediciine published on January 22, 2020 wrote that the first evidence of preserved brain matter may have been found in the places mentioned above.
According to the article, “glassy black material” was found in one of the human skeletons that was discovered from the College of the Augustales in Herculaneum.
Researchers believe that the skull which contained the glass black material, which was discovered in the 1960s might have been the caretaker of the two-storey building where many of the human skeletons were found and that that he might not have been able to flee when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.
Petrone believes that the black material found in the skull might have been the result of vitrification.
When something is “vitirified” the author explained that that substance becomes glass-like because of the exposure to high temperature.
The effect of this high temperature on human tissue, much more on the human brain is still a subject of an ongoing debate between experts as some argue that vaporization and not vitrification is more likely to happen when protein and fat are exposed to high temperature.
If Petrone’s findings, however, is proven correct, then experts now have access to a human brain preserved in a time capsule-like case that may prove useful in future studies.
Crater of Mt. Vesuvius in 2012 (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Pier Paolo Petrone of the University of Naples Federico II and his colleague in an article for the New England Journal of Mediciine published on January 22, 2020 wrote that the first evidence of preserved brain matter may have been found in the places mentioned above.
According to the article, “glassy black material” was found in one of the human skeletons that was discovered from the College of the Augustales in Herculaneum.
Researchers believe that the skull which contained the glass black material, which was discovered in the 1960s might have been the caretaker of the two-storey building where many of the human skeletons were found and that that he might not have been able to flee when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.
Petrone believes that the black material found in the skull might have been the result of vitrification.
When something is “vitirified” the author explained that that substance becomes glass-like because of the exposure to high temperature.
The effect of this high temperature on human tissue, much more on the human brain is still a subject of an ongoing debate between experts as some argue that vaporization and not vitrification is more likely to happen when protein and fat are exposed to high temperature.
If Petrone’s findings, however, is proven correct, then experts now have access to a human brain preserved in a time capsule-like case that may prove useful in future studies.