Lead researcher Pier Paolo Petrone, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Naples Federico II, co-authored an earlier study suggesting the presence of brain material in the skull. According to Tim Thompson, a forensic anthropologist at Teesside University in the U.K. who was not involved in either study, the finding was unique as brains didn't normally survive long after death.
"It's one of the earliest things to decompose in a standard decompositional context," Thompson told Ars Technica.
Under normal circumstances, brain matter would have been saponified and turned into a mixture of glycerol and fatty acids after being exposed to heat. But Petrone's team suggested that the material was vitrified. They estimated that the pyroclastic flow temperatures likely reached more than 900 degrees based on the charred wood found at the site. Such intense heat likely burnt body fat and vaporized soft tissue while vitrifying the man's brain, they posited.
In the latest study, researchers re-evaluated the finding through electron microscopy, which allowed them to obtain a detailed look of the material and all its minute intricacies. They found what appeared to be brain cell structures perfectly frozen in place. They were around 550 to 830 nanometers wide and were rich in carbon and oxygen, indicating that the material was organic.
"The results of our study show that the vitrification process occurred at Herculaneum, unique of its kind, has frozen the neuronal structures of this victim, preserving them intact until today," said Petrone. The victim, estimated to be 25 years old at the time of death, was found lying on a wooden bed inside the Collegium Augustalium, a building devoted to the worship of Emperor Augustus where he was said to be a custodian.
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