'Oldest human brain' discovered[UK]

BBC ^ | 12 Dec 2008 | BBC

[BGHater]

Archaeologists have found the remains of what could be Britain's oldest surviving human brain.

The team, excavating a York University site, discovered a skull containing a yellow substance which scans showed to be shrunken, but brain-shaped.

Brains consist of fatty tissue which microbes in the soil would absorb, so neurologists believe the find could be some kind of fossilised brain.

The skull was found in an area first farmed more than 2,000 years ago.

More tests will now be done to establish what it is actually made of.

The team from York Archaeological Trust had been commissioned by the university to carry out an exploratory dig at Heslington East, where campus extension work is under way.

The skull was discovered in an area of extensive prehistoric farming landscape of fields, trackways and buildings dating back to at least 300 BC.

Preservation

The archaeologists believe the skull, which was found on its own in a muddy pit, may have been a ritual offering.

It was taken to the University of York where CT scans were used to look at the skull's contents.

Philip Duffey, the consultant neurologist who carried out the scans, said the find was "amazing".

"It's exciting that scanning has shown structures which appear to be unequivocally of brain origin.

The brain matter can be seen as a dark area at the top of the brain

[SunkenCiv]

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[Domestic Church]

Yellow was Abby Normal’s favorite color.

[bigheadfred]

maybe someday in the far future man will be able to take old brain mater and convert in into a visual record

...only to find out they are watching another danged rerun...

[wildbill]

It’s alive, Marster, it’s alive!

[blam]

Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain

The oldest human brains ever found are in Florida:

Bye, Bye Beringia

"*Skeletal remains of 169 people, split almost evenly between males and females, ranging from 6 to 70 years old. About 75 of the skeletons were relatively intact.

*90 intact human brains that include the oldest DNA samples in the World.
*Artifacts of wood, bone, and seed that were made into jewelry and tools, providing insight into the ancient peoples' lives.
*Tests showed the oldest skeletons were buried 8,100 years ago. The youngest was placed in the ground 6,900 years ago.
"To put this into context," Doran said, "these people had already been dead for 3,000 or 4,000 years before the first stones were laid for the Egyptian pyramids!"

[snip]

"The primary significance of Windover is the seeming sophisticated culture of these people who lived there 8,100 years ago and before. Windover dates an advanced culture in North America that precedes any previously discovered anywhere else in the World.

[rdl6989]

I knew I wouldn’t get here in time for the “insert Helen Thomas joke here” comment.

[LibertyRocks]

Separated by birth, brought together on an FR thread...

&

[dfwgator]

“Damn your eyes!”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks blam!