▲ Human brain cells that have not been damaged for 2,000 years
In Pompeii, Italy, brain cells of a man believed to have died in the Vesuvius eruption 2,000 years ago have been found intact inside the skull.
The man's brain cells were exposed to high-temperature volcanic ash and melted, then quickly cooled down to vitrify and remain intact, the US CNN reported on the 5th (local time).
The remains of this 25-year-old man, believed to have been killed during the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD, were found lying on his head in a wooden bed.
"We started our research after discovering a shiny glass material in the skull in 2018," said Pierre Paolo Petrone, an archaeologist at the University of Naples Federico II, who led the study.
Petrone said, "When (the man's) brain was exposed to hot volcanic ash, it liquefied and then cooled rapidly and vitrified."
Volcanologist Guido Jordano, who worked with him, explained that considering the discovery of charcoal around the remains, it could be known that they were exposed to heat above 500 degrees Celsius.
Petrone used an electron microscope to find cells in the man's brain. "It was incredibly well preserved," he said.
"It has broadened the horizon of research on ancient humans," he added, adding that he will continue to study the remains of the Pompeii ruins.
The results of this study were published in the international academic journal'PLOS One'.
(Photo = Love Archiology Twitter capture, Yonhap News)