The eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located in Italy’s Gulf of Naples, in 79 A.D. left thousands of people dead—and their city eerily preserved and left intact under layers of ash, dust, and debris.

The excavation provided a goldmine for scientists, who were able to get a closer look than ever before on how people in that city actually lived.

But the intact remains of one man looks like it got a little too personal: A photo shared on the Archaeological Park of Pompeii’s Instagram seems to show a man preparing for the upcoming volcanic eruption with a little eruption of his own.

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Yes, the photo looks like the man is masturbating. In fact, Twitter accounts took the photo and ran—this one, which was shared more than 30,000 times, included the caption “Masturbating man, Pompeii, 79 CE.”

But the original caption, which was shared by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, made no mention of any kind of self-love at all: A translation of their post simply called it, “Plaster cast of a victim of the eruption.”

In fact, archaeology expert Pierpaolo Petrone of the University of Naples, who has studied Pompeii remains, set the record straight to The Daily Dot. (For more important news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our Daily Dose newsletter.)

“The individual in the photo is an adult man, killed by the hot pyroclastic surge (hot gas and ash cloud, which killed most of the population living around Mount Vesuvius), with both arms and legs flexed due to the heat,” he told them.

The “strange” positioning of the limbs seen on Pompeii victims—not just the man in question here—may just be due to the effect of the heat on their bodies after they died, which makes them appear like they’re grasping. (Think you masturbate too much? Our sex professor lets you know if that’s possible.)

So get your mind out of the gutter. This guy wasn’t engaging in some last-minute self-love, but these ways masturbating can go horribly wrong can be just as cringe-worthy.

Christa Sgobba For nearly 10 years, Christa has created health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness content that’s steeped in science but engaging enough that people actually want to read it.

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