Wednesday 30 March 2011

2,500-Year-Old Preserved Human Brain Discovered


A 2,500-year-old human skull uncovered in England was less of a surprise than what was in it: the brain. The discovery of the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain prompted questions about how such a fragile organ could have survived so long and how frequently this strange type of preservation occurs.

Except for the brain, all of the skull's soft tissue was gone when the skull was pulled from a muddy Iron Age pit where the University of York was planning to expand its Heslington East campus. Researchers who assessed the state of the brain after it was found in 2008 and looked into likely modes of preservation.

(via Neatorama)

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