Herculaneum victims of Vesuvius in ad 79

Mastrolorenzo, G.; Petrone, Pierpaolo; Pagano, Mario; Incoronato, Alberto; Baxter, Peter; Canzanella, A.; Fattore, Luciano

doi:10.1038/35071167

Cited by 99 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Near the vent, the pyroclastic surge temperature was a few hundred degrees, consistent with our results on the anno Domini 79 eruption at Herculaneum (9). While the clouds swept down the volcano flanks, they ingested air, expanded, and cooled to nearly ambient temperature, as suggested by simulation results for similar events (16).…”

Section: Interdisciplinary Field and Laboratory Evidencesupporting

confidence: 79%

“…The success of the evacuation depends mainly on its timeliness, because the early phase of a plinian eruption may not be lethal, even close to the volcano (2). Nevertheless, in most cases, the emplacement of billions of cubic meters of ash and lapilli in the form of a continuous blanket from decimeters to meters thick retards or prevents the recovery of the social-economical structure for decades to centuries, even tens of kilometers away from the vent (3,9,10). …”

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confidence: 99%

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The Avellino 3780-yr-B.P. catastrophe as a worst-case scenario for a future eruption at Vesuvius

Mastrolorenzo

Petrone

Pappalardo

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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A volcanic catastrophe even more devastating than the famous anno Domini 79 Pompeii eruption occurred during the Old Bronze Age at Vesuvius. The 3780-yr-B.P. Avellino plinian eruption produced an early violent pumice fallout and a late pyroclastic surge sequence that covered the volcano surroundings as far as 25 km away, burying land and villages. Here we present the reconstruction of this prehistoric catastrophe and its impact on the Bronze Age culture in Campania, drawn from an interdisciplinary volcanological and archaeoanthropological study. Evidence shows that a sudden, en masse evacuation of thousands of people occurred at the beginning of the eruption, before the last destructive plinian column collapse. Most of the fugitives likely survived, but the desertification of the total habitat due to the huge eruption size caused a social-demographic collapse and the abandonment of the entire area for centuries. Because an event of this scale is capable of devastating a broad territory that includes the present metropolitan district of Naples, it should be considered as a reference for the worst eruptive scenario at Vesuvius.archeoanthropology ͉ Bronze Age ͉ volcanic catastrophe ͉ volcanology P linian eruptions are highly destructive volcanic events that produce severe and long-lasting damage over thousands of squared kilometers of the territory surrounding volcanoes (1-4). Studies of the occurrence of plinian eruptions in densely populated areas reveal that most of the people who lived in the affected zones survived (3, 5). However, because of the habitat devastation and their inability to rehabilitate their homeland (5-7), many victims suffer social-economic crises and health status decline (3,5,8). Strong eruption precursors commonly alert the people days to months before the cataclysmic event; in the early phases of a plinian eruption, the slow escalation of the phenomena could allow them to escape from the volcano and flee beyond the lapilli fallout zone. The success of the evacuation depends mainly on its timeliness, because the early phase of a plinian eruption may not be lethal, even close to the volcano (2). Nevertheless, in most cases, the emplacement of billions of cubic meters of ash and lapilli in the form of a continuous blanket from decimeters to meters thick retards or prevents the recovery of the social-economical structure for decades to centuries, even tens of kilometers away from the vent (3, 9, 10).An extraordinary case that sheds light on such catastrophic consequences of an eruption is the Bronze Age Avellino plinian event at Vesuvius, dated by 14 C to Ϸ3780 yr B.P. (2, 10, 11). The eruption produced Ϸ4 km 3 of phonolitic ash and lapilli, a large subaqueous debris-flow avalanch in the gulf of Naples (12), and was even reported to have caused a global climatic disturbance (13). This event started with a moderate-sized explosive phase followed by a plinian column that in a few hours rose to 36 km in the stratosphere and, driven by westerly winds, produced a lapilli fallout covering thousands...

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Section: Interdisciplinary Field and Laboratory Evidencesupporting

confidence: 79%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Avellino 3780-yr-B.P. catastrophe as a worst-case scenario for a future eruption at Vesuvius

Mastrolorenzo

Petrone

Pappalardo

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The 58 deaths all occurred out in the open in a wilderness area, and evidence from other eruptions (see Blong, 1984) has been consistent in showing that survival outdoors is only possible in the periphery of a PDC when it has been well diluted by air and has almost stopped moving. For example, extreme heat was the overwhelming cause of death in victims sheltering in the beach chambers at Herculaneum in the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius (Mastrolorenzo et al, 2001).…”

Section: Literature Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Spence

Kelman

Brown³

et al. 2007

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.A major hazard during the eruption of explosive volcanoes is the formation of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Casualties and physical building damage from PDCs are caused by the temperature, pressure, and particle load of the flow. This paper examines the vulnerability of buildings and occupants to the forces imposed by PDCs along with associated infiltration of PDC particle and gas mixtures into an intact building. New studies are presented of building and occupant vulnerability with respect to temperature, pressure, and ash concentration. Initial mitigation recommendations are provided.

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“…That study showed greater difficulty in recovering and analyzing DNA from Herculaneum skeletal remains when compared with molecular analyses of Pompeii bone remains, likely due to exposure to higher thermal stress in the former case (Mastrolorenzo et al, 2001a(Mastrolorenzo et al, , 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present paper takes its cue from a bioanthropological and volcanological multidisciplinary study (Mastrolorenzo et al, 2010) aiming to further investigate the cause of death in Pompeii and the other Roman towns buried by the 79 AD Vesuvius Plinian eruption (Mastrolorenzo et al, 2001a). Using histochemical techniques, Mastrolorenzo et al (2010) showed the presence of DNA within osteocytic lacunae of bone samples experimentally heated up to 300 °C.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery and amplification of ancient DNA from Herculaneum victims killed by the 79 AD Vesuvius hot surges

Guarino¹,

Buccelli²,

Graziano³

et al. 2017

Turk J Biol

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In thermally damaged archaeological bones the quantity, quality, and amplifiability of DNA are very much reliant on both the extent of heating and the environmental conditions of the burial context. In this study we tested the possibility of extracting and amplifying ancient DNA from human bone remains of Herculaneum victims of the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius using a combination of histochemical and molecular methods. Long bone samples with variable degrees of chromatic and morphological alterations consistent with exposure to temperatures of about 300 °C were taken from four specimens. Using histochemical stains, bone cryostat sections from three individuals revealed DNA within osteocyte lacunae but only for one sample the DNA was suitable for PCR amplification obtained, namely from reactions with the primer pair for X and Y amelogenin (AMEL) loci. The relative sequence differed from the homologous trait of AMELX deposited in GenBank for six bases, probably due to degradation processes following death. Our data are indicative that archaeological bones exposed to high temperatures of about 300 °C should be considered for DNA analysis, given the favorable conditions of corpse burial and skeleton preservation, such as those that occurred for the 79 AD victims in Herculaneum and Pompeii.

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Herculaneum victims of Vesuvius in ad 79

Cited by 99 publications

References 7 publications

The Avellino 3780-yr-B.P. catastrophe as a worst-case scenario for a future eruption at Vesuvius

The Avellino 3780-yr-B.P. catastrophe as a worst-case scenario for a future eruption at Vesuvius

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Recovery and amplification of ancient DNA from Herculaneum victims killed by the 79 AD Vesuvius hot surges

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