IF you knew death from a volcanic eruption was imminent, what would you do with your remaining time on Earth?

A photo of a preserved body from Pompeii during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE has given a strange insight into that question, with the victim appearing to be masturbating.

After being shared on the Pompeii Archaeological Park Instagram account, the picture has been circulating Twitter, Reddit and 4 Chan, causing many to speculate what he was doing when Vesuvius took his life.

The leading theory firmly gripped by those online, is the man was mid-wank at the time of his death.

Masturbating man, Pompeii, 79 CE pic.twitter.com/EPA2b17Vmd — Persian Rose (@PersianRose1) July 2, 2017

He held on till the very end......great man — EfeTobore (@tobasamuels) July 2, 2017

He was an early socialist. He seized the means of production. — Rev. Bob Hartley, BA (@FuturaStalkee) July 2, 2017

His browser history is gone though... — Marcel Terlaak (@marcel_terlaak) July 2, 2017

When someone says evacuate, but you thought they said ejaculate..... — David Tossell (@DavidTossell) July 2, 2017

A Good Day to Die Hard

Bruce Willis — Cognitive Product (@_eknock) July 2, 2017

Now I know who I was in my past life — Brian Lagos (@Zapatos_101) July 2, 2017

He died holding his loved ones. — Persian Rose (@PersianRose1) July 2, 2017

Sadly, it appears as if the man didn’t die doing what he loved.

According to Volcanologist Pier Paolo Petrone claimed victims of the eruption were killed by thermal shock when their organs were cooked by deep, fourth-degree burns.

“There is no way to demonstrate any ‘masturbating man,’ and it is out of place to discuss such an affirmation of some young time waster,” Dr. Petrone told the Daily Dot.

“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.”

Mr Petrone said it was most likely the man’s hands ended up in a masturbatory pose post-mortem.

“Most of the human victims found in Pompeii often show ‘strange’ position of arms and legs, due to the contraction of limbs as a consequence of the heat effect on their bodies after death occurred,” he said.

While a volcanologist who has been studying the Vesuvius victims for 25 years is probably right, it’s still fun to think he wanted one last tug before he died.

What are your thoughts? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.