Pompeii’s Mount Vesuvius ‘boiled victims’ blood’ and caused their skulls to EXPLODE – study says deaths worse than previously thought
THE VICTIMS of the volcanic disaster that destroyed Pompeii might have suffered an even worse death than most people realise.
A study of residue on skeletons found that the people unlucky enough to be around Mount Vesuvius when it erupted were not suffocated by ash but actually boiled alive until their heads exploded.
The study, which was published in the journal , focused on remains found at a boat houses in Herculaneum, which was a wealthy seaside resort near Pompeii back in 79AD.
The ruins of Herculaneum are located in the modern day town of Ercolano in Italy.
Back in the 1980s and 90s, archaeologists discovered hundreds of skeletal remains of people who had huddled at the waters edge in Herculaneum hoping to escape the wrath of the volcano.
Most experts used to agree that the victims died from being suffocated in ash clouds.
However, a more recent study revealed that the super-heated gas that tumbled down the mountainside would have boiled people instantly.
A team of archaeologists based in Italy reached this conclusion when they examined 100 samples of bones and skulls.
The remains were covered in black and red residue and contained an unusually high amount of iron.
This indicated that blood had been boiled on the bones.
Many of the skulls found showed signs of exploding outwards and had lots of residue left on them.
It is believed that when the victims' heads exploded their brains would have instantly turned to lumps of ash.
Despite this seeming an even more gruesome death than suffocating from an ash cloud, it would have been mercifully quick as the 400 to 900 degree heat would essentially vaporise someone.
Other studies suggest that people in Pompeii also died of this kind of heat shock but are often found in curled up positions due to the slightly lower heat of 200 to 250 degrees meaning the muscles in their bodies had time to contract before burning.
However, there are still some scientists who think high amounts of iron and exploded skulls are not conclusive evidence of boiling alive.
What everyone can agree on though is that gas and ash released by an eruption should not be overlooked as any less dangerous than lava.
The destruction of Pompeii – what happened in 79 AD?
- Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy.
- It was destroyed, along with the Roman town of Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, and buried under volcanic ash in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
- The violent explosion killed the city's inhabitants, with the site lost for around 1,500 years until its initial redsicovery in 1599 and broader redesicovery almost 150 years after that.
- The thermal energy released from Vesuvius was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
- The remains beneath the city have been preserved for more than a millenium due to the lack of air and moisture in the ground.
- During excavations, plaster was injected into the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies, allowing scientists to recreate their exact poses at the time of their deaths.
- Mount Vesuvius is arguably the most dangerous volcano on earth.
- It had been inactive for almost a century before roaring back into life and destroying Pompeii.
- Since then, it has exploded around three dozen more times - most recently in 1944 - and stands in close proximity to three million people.
- Although its current status is dormant, Vesuvius is an "extremely active" and unpredictable volcano, according to experts.
- To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius.
- Excavations at thermal baths in Pompeii's ruins in February revealed the skeleton of a crouching child who perished in the 79 AD eruption.
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