What kind of disaster happened at pompeii

According to the new study, this supports the idea that extreme heat could have destroyed certain muscles faster than they could contract. Jaskulska says that some independent forensic evidence supports the idea that red blood cell destruction can cause this sort of bone staining.

This heat is comparable to what victims would have experienced in Herculaneum. This seems odd to her, considering that there are far more soft tissues to vaporize on legs than on arms.

Jaskulska also expected that if these tissues disappeared due to sudden heat, the damage to the bones would be much more intense than it appears. Even if heat-driven hemoglobin breakdown did occur, the pyroclastic surges might have caused the damage after the people had already died of asphyxiation or other causes.

Modern analogs may shed some light on the debate. Janine Krippner , a volcanologist at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, points out that pyroclastic flows and surges still happen today, and they are not always a guarantee of a quick, painless demise.

The outcome depends on how fast, hot, ashy, and gassy the currents are, among other things. If it is diluted enough, you might even be able to survive the severe heat-related trauma. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Signs of an extreme planet found in another galaxy.

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Next Article Where is Afghanistan located and what lands border it? By the time the Vesuvius eruption sputtered to an end the next day, Pompeii was buried under millions of tons of volcanic ash.

About 2, Pompeiians were dead, but the eruption killed as many as 16, people overall. Some people drifted back to town in search of lost relatives or belongings, but there was not much left to find.

Pompeii, along with the neighboring town of Herculaneum and a number of villas in the area, was abandoned for centuries. Pompeii remained mostly untouched until , when a group of explorers looking for ancient artifacts arrived in Campania and began to dig. They found that the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative: Underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been almost 2, years before. Its buildings were intact. Everyday objects and household goods littered the streets.

Later archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread! Many scholars say that the excavation of Pompeii played a major role in the neo-Classical revival of the 18th century. Start your free trial today. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.

He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around mph. People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours. While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano's column to collapse.

An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at more than mph, burying victims and remnants of everyday life.

Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly. As people fled or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge. It's estimated some 2, people died in Pompeii and Herculaneum alone.

This event ended life in the cities but preserved them until their rediscovery by archaeologists nearly years later. The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life. Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city.

In recent years, they uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues. Some of the balconies even had amphorae - the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times. Dan Avery For Dailymail. Load Error.

Ad Microsoft. Full screen. Mount Etna continued its spectacular eruptions on Monday into Tuesday with jets of lava reaching a thousand meters ft into the air. The eruptions have awed even seasoned volcanologists in recent days with spurts of lava lighting up the Sicilian sky each night. Some said Monday's eruption - that continued into the early hours of Tuesday - was the most powerful during its recent burst of activity, with one expert saying an eruption of its kind had not been seen for decades at Etna.

Pictured: A handout satellite photo dated 18 February and made available by the European Space Agency showing lava flowing down the side of Mount Etna, which has been erupting over the last week.