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My own little pet theory is, that the idea of the pryoclastic stream coming down from the volcano is wrong. Its the only one we know so far. But if you look at

My own little pet theory is, that the idea of the pryoclastic stream coming down from the volcano is wrong. Its the only one we know so far. But if you look at the volcanic activity in the area - you will note that the ground of the ocean floor also rises and falls. A sort of massive steam release from the ocean - could cook people relatively fast- and when the pyroclastic stream from the volcano arrived, leave the bodies sort of "Pre-cremated". Of course this theory has its own faults. One beeing that such a steam release usually co-exists with a massive explosion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa).. There are no traces of a steam explosion..

LyndsySimon 7y ago
I’ve not studied it in detail, but from the images I’ve seen of the human remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii, I got the impression that those people died a relatively quick death - some painless, some not so much, but relatively quickly. Given the landscape, my hunch is that a heavier-than-air gas - like carbon monoxide - probably inundated at least some areas, and the people there died of asphyxiation. I hesitate to say they “suffocated” because that implies (to me at least) that they felt as if they were suffocating. Instead, it looks to me like many of them just kinda laid down and went to sleep. That would be consistent with how people die today in enclosed spaces, like chemical tanks, when the oxygen in the air is driven out by a heavier gas. Without the buildup of carbon dioxide in the air there is no indication to the person that anything is wrong until they fall over from lack of oxygen. In an enclosed space that’s already filled with the gas before entry, that happens unexpectedly and immediately. In a space where the oxygen in the air is replaced gradually - or if not gradually, at least while people are present - I would expect people to experience drowsiness, lethargy, and perhaps euphoria. There are examples of entire families perishing there, and they don’t seem to be in tortuous poses. I expect that they saw that the people around them were dying. They didn’t understand why exactly but likely attributed it to the gods. They felt tired, knew what was coming, and chose to lay down and accept it with their loved ones. Adults likely did so with the full expectation that they would die, in order to comfort their children and loved ones. There are other examples where it’s obvious that the people involved were desperately trying to crawl away from something. Examples where their mouths were open, obviously struggling for one more breath. Those I expect died through asphyxiation by ash, or even by smoke inhalation caused by secondary fires set by the eruption. In short, my intuition says that there were likely three major causes of death from the eruption: “gentle” asphyxiation through the replacement of atmospheric oxygen, “harsh” asphyxiation through the inhalation of smoke or ash, and direct inundation with pyroclastic flow. Again, I’m just a lay person here, and haven’t even spent a great deal of time studying the topic. It just seems simplistic to me when I read articles that seem to treat everyone in Pompeii and Herculaneum as having died through a single mechanism.

LyndsySimon 7y ago

I’ve not studied it in detail, but from the images I’ve seen of the human remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii, I got the impression that those people died a relatively quick death - some painless, some not so much, but relatively quickly. Given the landscape, my hunch is that a heavier-than-air gas - like carbon monoxide - probably inundated at least some areas, and the people there died of asphyxiation. I hesitate to say they “suffocated” because that implies (to me at least) that they felt as if they were suffocating. Instead, it looks to me like many of them just kinda laid down and went to sleep. That would be consistent with how people die today in enclosed spaces, like chemical tanks, when the oxygen in the air is driven out by a heavier gas. Without the buildup of carbon dioxide in the air there is no indication to the person that anything is wrong until they fall over from lack of oxygen. In an enclosed space that’s already filled with the gas before entry, that happens unexpectedly and immediately. In a space where the oxygen in the air is replaced gradually - or if not gradually, at least while people are present - I would expect people to experience drowsiness, lethargy, and perhaps euphoria. There are examples of entire families perishing there, and they don’t seem to be in tortuous poses. I expect that they saw that the people around them were dying. They didn’t understand why exactly but likely attributed it to the gods. They felt tired, knew what was coming, and chose to lay down and accept it with their loved ones. Adults likely did so with the full expectation that they would die, in order to comfort their children and loved ones. There are other examples where it’s obvious that the people involved were desperately trying to crawl away from something. Examples where their mouths were open, obviously struggling for one more breath. Those I expect died through asphyxiation by ash, or even by smoke inhalation caused by secondary fires set by the eruption. In short, my intuition says that there were likely three major causes of death from the eruption: “gentle” asphyxiation through the replacement of atmospheric oxygen, “harsh” asphyxiation through the inhalation of smoke or ash, and direct inundation with pyroclastic flow. Again, I’m just a lay person here, and haven’t even spent a great deal of time studying the topic. It just seems simplistic to me when I read articles that seem to treat everyone in Pompeii and Herculaneum as having died through a single mechanism.