These days, you can pickle just about anything. We even have yodeling pickles (though it should be noted these are not real pickles). And now we've got pickled human brains from 2,684 years ago! Well, we have one, at least.
A 2,684-year-old human skull was recently found in Yorkshire. It contained an "exceptionally preserved" human brain, which is pictured above for all your pickled-brain pleasures.
It's the oldest known intact brain and one of the most well preserved ancient brains on Earth.
"The early Iron Age skull belonged to a man, probably in his thirties," said lead author Sonia O'Connor. "Cause of death is rarely possible to determine in archaeological remains, but in this case, damage to the neck vertebrae is consistent with a hanging."
There is no evidence of bacterial or fungal activity in the brain, and the tissue is odorless and spongy but resilient like tofu. That's really another way of saying it's well preserved.
Aside from being able to study the brain, this discovery leads to more information on how to preserve one. Brain tissue is extremely different from other human soft tissue, which is why the rest of this old fella wasn't hanging out with his brain. The wet environment is what O'Connor suspects aided the preservation of the brain.
Via Discovery
Posts
