The remains of 340 of them have been unearthed since 1980 — some in the boathouses, known as fornici, and some on the beach. A prevailing hypothesis is that their blood and brains were vaporized by the extreme heat of the pyroclastic flow. At another site in the city, some researchers have proposed that at least one person’s brain turned to glass. A pair of studies published Thursday offer new evidence for how the Vesuvius eruption killed some of Herculaneum’s people. This protection insulated them from the flow’s intense heat, but they may have suffered more as they were perhaps suffocated or asphyxiated.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2020 22:07 UTC