The new discovery tells the story behind Mount Vesuvius

, found in a city near Pompe Italy, give a diametrically opposed account of the cause of death of the victims of the 79-year-old eruption.
about 2,000 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted, hot gas and ash engulfed the victims, some of whom may have died more slowly than previously thought.
the ancient city of Pompeii not only brought devastating disaster, but also brought death to the nearby ancient city of Herculaneum. Herculaneum is a neighbouring city where 340 bodies have been found on beaches and in nearby docks. Researchers have long believed that these victims died from soft tissue evaporation.
however, after analysing the ribs of 152 victims, Tim Thompson and colleagues at the University of Tisside in Middlesbrough, UK, found that the crystalline structure of the bones and residual collagen did not show the expected signs of exposure to high temperatures. The researchers said the people on board died of asphyxiation and baking, not from the evaporation of soft tissue.
in another study, Pier Paolo Petrone of the University of Naples in Italy and colleagues reported that one victim's skull contained brain tissue that had become a hard glass substance. Petrone and colleagues say the discovery and analysis of charred wood nearby suggest that the person was affected by extreme temperatures and may have evaporated human tissue. (Source: Jin Nan, China Science Journal)
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