Heslington Brain Lasted a Millennia

Super Resilient Protein Structures Preserved a Chunk of Brain for 2,600 Years

By Katherine J. Wu/Smithsonianmag.com

In the summer of 2008, archaeologist Rachel Cubitt was in the middle of a routine cleanup procedure when she noticed something peculiar.

The oddity wasn’t the ancient, mud-caked human skull she held in her hands. (As an employee of the York Archaeological Trust, Cubitt considered such specimens par for the course.) Rather, it was what Cubitt noticed inside the grubby noggin that left her baffled. Enclosed within the cranium—dug up earlier that year near modern day York, England—was a loose, spongy lump that in a baffling twist of fate would turn out to be a shockingly well-preserved piece of a 2,600-year-old brain.

Over the following decade, analyses yielded more questions than answers about the ancient organ—now known as the Heslington brain—and the mysterious Iron Age man to whom it once belonged. But as Ashley Strickland reports for CNN, researchers may have finally solved one of the biggest mysteries of all: namely, how such delicate tissue survived so many centuries underground in its natural state.

Per a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the brain’s pristine preservation appears to boil down to a few architectural quirks. Read More:

Carol Duff, MSN, BA, RN

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.

She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.

• Carol’s Archives 2009-2013