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SOURCE SHEET FILE The Eruption

Skeletal remains were found in boat sheds on the harbor front at Herculaneum, accompanied by jewelry and money. The victims were mostly women and children. Analysis of the skeletons showed they died instantly from heat shock when a 500°C pyroclastic surge from the erupting volcano collapsed into the town. Fractures and cracks in the bones and teeth indicated extreme heat killed them rapidly before they could feel pain or panic.

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31 views2 pages

SOURCE SHEET FILE The Eruption

Skeletal remains were found in boat sheds on the harbor front at Herculaneum, accompanied by jewelry and money. The victims were mostly women and children. Analysis of the skeletons showed they died instantly from heat shock when a 500°C pyroclastic surge from the erupting volcano collapsed into the town. Fractures and cracks in the bones and teeth indicated extreme heat killed them rapidly before they could feel pain or panic.

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Lulu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SOURCE SHEET FILE:

Pompeii and Herculaneum


Name of Source: Skeletons found in the boat sheds
Description of source:
Skeletal remains from the vaulted boat houses on the harbour front
at Herculaneum
accompanied with jewellery and money
Victims were mostly women and children
Source example:

Annotation of source:
Bodies were excavated and studied in approximately 2001
Current whereabouts of the human remains are unknown most
likely preserved by archaeologists
The remains show that the column of gas and ash from the volcano
collapsed, sending a 500C pyroclastic surge through the town and
to the waterfront
Relaxed postures of the skeletons suggest that they died instantly
from heat shock instead of suffocation
The hot cloud vapourised their flesh and then covered their remains
with volcanic ash
Fractures and holes were blown into some of the skulls by the heat
Patterns of cracks in tooth enamel and patterns in the bones suggest
500C temperatures
Supporting sources:
Pliny the Younger suggests the cause of death of Herculaneum
victims during the eruption, that the volcano sent up a column of
ash and hot gas and hurled out stones and pumice.
A team led by Dr. Alberto Incoronato, of the University of Napes
Federico II, studied 80 skeletons taken from ash that had solidified,
suggests that the victims were killed instantaneously from the heat,
the bodies showed no signs of a voluntary self-protective reaction
or agony contortions, indicating that their vital organs must have
stopped within a shorter time than the conscious reaction time. The
cloud was a mixture of hot gas and ash.
The lack of boats suggests that there were many people that had
caught on to early signs of danger and already fled the scene
Theorise:
The cause of death of people from Herculaneum were from the
column of ash and hot gas
Their deaths were instantaneous
They were aware of the significance of events, hence leading to the
attempt of escape

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