A 4,000 year-old brain that was boiled inside its parent skull may be the oldest specimen scientists have ever discovered.
Researchers have been studying the ancient organ in hopes of discovering what happened in the last few moments of its owner's life. The finding could help scientists study the health of the brain thousands of years ago, New Scientist reported.
The brain was found in an area that was Seyitömer Höyük in Turkey's Bronze Age.
Enzymes in the brain usually rapidly break down cells after death, but in certain conditions such is in freezing temperatures this process can be stopped. Since this ancient person did not die in the mountains researchers were unsure of how the brain could have been so well preserved.
Meriç Altinoz of Haliç University in Istanbul, Turkey believes "the clues are on the ground." The team found a layer of sediment underneath the skeleton that contained traces of thousands-of-years old charred wood. The region is known for tectonic activity, so the team believes an earthquake could have buried the ancient town and triggered a violent fire.
The fire would have consumed any oxygen left beneath the fallen rubble, which would have caused the brains to essentially "boil in their own fluid." Since all of the moisture was boiled out in an oxygen-free environment, the brain was left brilliantly preserved.
"The level of preservation in combination with the age is remarkable," Frank Rühli of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, who has looked at medieval brain tissue in the past, said, New Scientist reported.
The chemistry of the surrounding soil may have also contributed to the brain's preservation. The dirt was rich in potassium, aluminum, and magnesium, which form a "soapy substance" called adipocere when mixed with fatty acids from the human body. The substance, also known as "corpse wax" is believed to have helped the brain maintain its shape.
Most researchers don't even look for brain tissue in ancient bodies because it is very rarely preserved. "If you publish cases like this, people will be more and more aware that they could find original brain tissue too," Rühli said.
Rühli believes there is a possibility future researchers could even find traces of ancient tumors and other brain disorders.
"If we want to learn more about the history of neurological disorders, we need to have tissue like this," Rühli said.
