Trying to contain or control the flow of lava from an erupting volcano seems like a fool's errand. It would be much better to avoid building communities anywhere near a volcano. But volcanos can go millions of years between eruptions, and people don't mind living near what they figure is an extinct volcano. They often have rich soil for crops. So we are occasionally surprised by an eruption, which can be devastating.
People have attempted several different methods for controlling lava flow, including bombs, water, and dikes (although I'm not sure that would be the right term, since it's lava instead of water), with varying results. Oh yeah, and sacrifices, which isn't addressed in this video at all. It turns out that one method seems to work best, but only when the community is prepared way ahead of time. That's not much help when an "extinct" volcano decides to suddenly resurrect itself, but it's better than nothing. Or as one commenter put it: "Well as long as you stay on the furniture and don’t touch the floor you should be fine."
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