Preserved brain cells of a young man who died in the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD have been found.
The neurons have been spotted in a unique black glass material inside his skull, which experts said was previously his brain that had been vitrified by the eruption.
In an archaeological anomaly, heat from the disaster was so intense, and the cooling so rapid, that it turned the man's grey matter into a shiny obsidian-like material.
The doomed individual was found in Herculaneum, the neighbouring town to Pompeii, in the 1960s and is now being analysed by scientists.
It is believed the cells belong to either the spinal cord or the cerebellum.
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A neuron is visible in this vitrified segment of brain tissue. The brain of a man in his mid-20s was vitrified during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD
Heat created by the devastating Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD was so intense, the event transformed one victim's brains into glass (pictured). The team spotted the vitrified remains which appeared as splatters of a shiny, black material in a man's skull
The structure of some neurons was observed during microscopic analysis and confirms the earlier theory that the strange material was indeed brain.
'The results of our study show that the vitrification process occurred at Herculaneum, unique of its kind, has frozen the neuronal structures of this victim, preserving them intact until today,' study lead author Pier Paolo Petrone, a forensic anthropologist at University Federico II of Naples in Italy, said.
Details of the latest find were published recently in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Researchers believe the cells were preserved because the remains were rapidly heated to around 520°C and then rapidly cooled.
'This is the first time ever that vitrified human brain remains have been discovered resulting from heat produced by an eruption,' Herculaneum officials said in January.
It is believed the man, in his mid-20s, was a member of a cult and was sleeping face down on a bed when he died.
He was found in Herculaneum's Collegium Augustalium, or the College of the Augustales and it is believed this building was the headquarters of the cult of the Emperor Augustus.
This group of people worshipped the emperor as a deity, and Petrone believes the victim may have been a caretaker for the building.
It is believed the cells belong to either the spinal cord or the cerebellum (pitured). Researchers believe the cells were preserved because the remains rapidly warmed to around 520°C and then rapidly cooled
In an archaeological anomaly, heat from the disaster was so intense, and the cooling so rapid. that it turned the man's grey matter into a shiny obsidian-like material (pictured)
Electron microscopes, an extremely powerful form of observation which can see tiny details, spotted signs of the cells.
Their characteristic features were observed and X-ray analysis was then conducted to determine if it was from the organ.
The results were conclusive, the 550 to 830 nanometer-wide section of cells was rich in carbon and oxygen, indicating it was organic and therefore likely his brain.
The eruption of Vesuvius instantly killed the inhabitants of Pompeii and neighbouring Herculaneum, burying an area 12 miles from the volcano in ash in just a few hours.
The team suggests temperatures may have hit 968 degrees Fahrenheit, according to charred wood also found around the site.
Solidified spongy mass found in the victim's chest bones is also unique among archaeological finds and can be compared with victims of more recent historic events like the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg in World War II.
Pictured is a shot of Mount Vesuvius from 2008 as it lays dormant
One aspect that makes Herculaneum interesting in comparison with Pompeii is its location relative to Mount Vesuvius, giving some residents time to escape