A hypothesis of sudden body fluid vaporization in the 79 AD victims of Vesuvius

Abstract

In AD 79 the town of Herculaneum was suddenly hit and overwhelmed by volcanic ash-avalanches that killed all its remaining residents, as also occurred in Pompeii and other settlements as far as 20 kilometers from Vesuvius. New investigations on the victims' skeletons unearthed from the ash deposit filling 12 waterfront chambers have now revealed widespread preservation of atypical red and black mineral residues encrusting the bones, which also impregnate the ash filling the intracranial cavity and the ash-bed encasing the skeletons. Here we show the unique detection of large amounts of iron and iron oxides from such residues, as revealed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and Raman microspectroscopy, thought to be the final products of heme iron upon thermal decomposition. The extraordinarily rare preservation of significant putative evidence of hemoprotein thermal degradation from the eruption victims strongly suggests the rapid vaporization of body fluids and soft tissues of people at death due to exposure to extreme heat.

A re-evaluation of manner of death at Roman Herculaneum following the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius

“…Controlled cremation studies demonstrate that it takes between 40 minutes and two hours at temperatures in excess of 650°C (averaging 800-1000°C) to destroy cadaveric soft tissue fully (Bohnert et al 1998;Gerling et al 2001;Schwark et al 2011). Even when subjected to temperatures in excess of 1000°C, human tissue will not simply vaporise, as proposed by Mastrolorenzo et al (2001Mastrolorenzo et al ( , 2010, Petrone (2011) and Petrone et al (2018). Evidence suggests that it is often the case with victims of fire that the side or portion of the body upon which they lie during burning remains relatively less degraded than areas undergoing direct exposure (Gerling et al 2001).…”

“…Recent developments in bioarchaeological analysis have catalysed debate over the nature and manner of the inhabitants' deaths (Mastrolorenzo et al 2001(Mastrolorenzo et al , 2010Petrone 2011;Fattore et al 2012;Schmidt et al 2015). The remains also provide a unique opportunity to examine the lethal effects of pyroclastic surges from what is still an active volcano in a densely inhabited contemporary landscape (Mastrolorenzo et al 2010;Petrone et al 2018).…”

“…Death by volcanic activity can leave no trace on the body (Makoye Ng'Walali et al 1999). Forensic and histological investigations of the Herculaneum victims from both contexts, however, have shown the cause of death to be instantaneous, thermally induced fulminant shock (Mastrolorenzo et al 2001(Mastrolorenzo et al , 2010Petrone 2011;Petrone et al 2018). Histological analysis of the skeletons from the beach at Herculaneum and of individuals from Oplontis have revealed: bone discolouration varying from black to grey-white; the presence of both linear and polygonal microcracking; dental enamel cracks; cranial fractures as a result of thermally induced intracranial pressure; and incipient to high crystallisation of bone hydroxyapatite (Mastrolorenzo et al 2001(Mastrolorenzo et al , 2010.…”

“…Histological analysis of the skeletons from the beach at Herculaneum and of individuals from Oplontis have revealed: bone discolouration varying from black to grey-white; the presence of both linear and polygonal microcracking; dental enamel cracks; cranial fractures as a result of thermally induced intracranial pressure; and incipient to high crystallisation of bone hydroxyapatite (Mastrolorenzo et al 2001(Mastrolorenzo et al , 2010. The lack of detectable DNA from victims found on the beach (Mastrolorenzo et al 2010) and of proteins in those from the chambers (Petrone et al 2018) also supports the hypothesis of exposure to high pyroclastic temperatures. Furthermore, it is suggested that the lack of the boxer position, or pugilistic attitude, in many of the victims at Herculaneum also denotes instant vaporisation of the soft tissues upon impact.…”

“…Furthermore, it is suggested that the lack of the boxer position, or pugilistic attitude, in many of the victims at Herculaneum also denotes instant vaporisation of the soft tissues upon impact. Absorption of thermal energy by these soft tissues is believed to have subsequently caused a rapid decrease in aerospheric temperature within the fornici (Mastrolorenzo et al 2001(Mastrolorenzo et al , 2010Petrone et al 2018).…”