Archaeologica.org

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/scie ... =361849652

Brains Turned to Glass? Suffocated in Boathouses? Vesuvius Victims Get New Look

Two studies examined grim scenes left at a Roman settlement devastated by the 79 A.D. eruption.

While Pompeii was consumed by ash, Herculaneum was done in by a pyroclastic flow — a fast-moving, dense, extremely hot surge of ash, gas and rock. At the city’s seaside, hundreds of people died that day. The remains of 340 of them have been unearthed since 1980 — some in the boathouses, known as fornici, and some on the beach.

How they died has long been debated. 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.

Given the propensity of humans for violence someone was probably chasing them with a club.

Interestingly the skeletons on the beach appear to be largely male and those in the boathouses females and children, hence the idea that the men were desperately trying to secure the boats.

it is difficult to know where to draw the line here if anywhere. At the Pompeii exhibit in the BM the last cabinet had the casts of a family (presumed) a man and woman clearly dying clutching a baby. The caption explained the baby had curled it's fists into a boxing pose, which is reflective of someone dying in extremis.

Not sure one needed to see this or whether it was suitable for giggling school children.

Scientific research no problem, post-mortems are standard, but a spectacle no thanks.

Of course this segues into depictions of historical violence - how many times do you see depictions of gladiators as if they were all beefcakes and talented fighters capering around in bondage gear?

Homō hominī lupus est - as some Roman or other is supposed to have said