Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK

Sonia O'Connor; Esam Ali; Salim Al-Sabah; Danish Anwar; Ed Bergström; Keri A. Brown; Jo Buckberry; Stephen Buckley; Matthew Collins; John Denton; Konrad M. Dorling; Adam Dowle; Phil Duffey; Howell G.M. Edwards; Elsa Correia Faria; Peter Gardner; Andy Gledhill; Karl Heaton; Carl Heron; Rob Janaway; Brendan J. Keely; David King; Anthony Masinton; Kirsty Penkman; Axel Petzold; Matthew D. Pickering; Martin Rumsby; Holger Schutkowski; Kimberley A. Shackleton; Jerry Thomas; Jane Thomas-Oates; Maria Raimonda Usai; Andrew S. Wilson; Terry O'Connor

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.030

Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK

Sonia O'Connor^*, Esam Ali, Salim Al-Sabah, Danish Anwar, Ed Bergström, Keri A. Brown, Jo Buckberry, Stephen Buckley, Matthew Collins, John Denton, Konrad M. Dorling, Adam Dowle, Phil Duffey, Howell G.M. Edwards, Elsa Correia Faria, Peter Gardner, Andy Gledhill, Karl Heaton, Carl Heron, Rob JanawayBrendan J. Keely, David King, Anthony Masinton, Kirsty Penkman, Axel Petzold, Matthew D. Pickering, Martin Rumsby, Holger Schutkowski, Kimberley A. Shackleton, Jerry Thomas, Jane Thomas-Oates, Maria Raimonda Usai, Andrew S. Wilson, Terry O'Connor

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

23 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Journal of Archaeological Science
Vol/bind	38
Udgave nummer	7
Sider (fra-til)	1641-1654
Antal sider	14
ISSN	0305-4403
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.030
Status	Udgivet - jul. 2011

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O'Connor, S., Ali, E., Al-Sabah, S., Anwar, D., Bergström, E., Brown, K. A., Buckberry, J., Buckley, S., Collins, M., Denton, J., Dorling, K. M., Dowle, A., Duffey, P., Edwards, H. G. M., Faria, E. C., Gardner, P., Gledhill, A., Heaton, K., Heron, C., ... O'Connor, T. (2011). Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1641-1654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.030

O'Connor, S, Ali, E, Al-Sabah, S, Anwar, D, Bergström, E, Brown, KA, Buckberry, J, Buckley, S, Collins, M, Denton, J, Dorling, KM, Dowle, A, Duffey, P, Edwards, HGM, Faria, EC, Gardner, P, Gledhill, A, Heaton, K, Heron, C, Janaway, R, Keely, BJ, King, D, Masinton, A, Penkman, K, Petzold, A, Pickering, MD, Rumsby, M, Schutkowski, H, Shackleton, KA, Thomas, J, Thomas-Oates, J, Usai, MR, Wilson, AS & O'Connor, T 2011, 'Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK', Journal of Archaeological Science, bind 38, nr. 7, s. 1641-1654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.030

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abstract = "Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.",

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AU - Edwards, Howell G.M.

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AU - Heron, Carl

AU - Janaway, Rob

AU - Keely, Brendan J.

AU - King, David

AU - Masinton, Anthony

AU - Penkman, Kirsty

AU - Petzold, Axel

AU - Pickering, Matthew D.

AU - Rumsby, Martin

AU - Schutkowski, Holger

AU - Shackleton, Kimberley A.

AU - Thomas, Jerry

AU - Thomas-Oates, Jane

AU - Usai, Maria Raimonda

AU - Wilson, Andrew S.

AU - O'Connor, Terry

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Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK

Abstract

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