Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,
Speaker 1: and moments in time. At the center of all human endeavors,
Speaker 1: from warfare and art to religion and science, we find
Speaker 1: the human brain. But how often do we actually find
Speaker 1: brain tissue in the buried remnants of human beings in
Speaker 1: their history. The main issue, of course, is that soft
Speaker 1: tissue doesn't stick around. Brains usually decomposed rather quickly following
Speaker 1: the creature's death, with enzymes rapidly breaking up the spongy tissue,
Speaker 1: which is roughly sevent water. Unless this process is interfered with,
Speaker 1: the brain decomposes along with the rest of the body's
Speaker 1: soft tissue and has gone entirely within the first few
Speaker 1: years of death. But of course, environmental circumstances and human
Speaker 1: burial practices sometimes allow a bit of brain to survive
Speaker 1: the conquering worm. For instance, brain cells have been found
Speaker 1: preserved in remnants from the seventy nine CE eruption of
Speaker 1: Mount Vesuvius. It provides scientists with the chance to study
Speaker 1: neuronal tissue from the ancient world. Obsey the Iceman, Europe's
Speaker 1: oldest mummy, died roughly five thousand, three hundred years ago.
Speaker 1: Since the ice preserved his body, scientists have been able
Speaker 1: to perform a protein analysis of his brain tissue to
Speaker 1: determine that he suffered a head injury prior to death,
Speaker 1: perhaps a blow to the back of the head from
Speaker 1: a weapon or an injury suffered from a fall after
Speaker 1: being struck with an arrow. Even Egyptian mummies, whose brains
Speaker 1: were often removed as part of the embalming ritual, sometimes
Speaker 1: give up their gray matter for modern scientific scrutiny. In
Speaker 1: two thousand fourteen, researchers discovered a seventeen hundred year old
Speaker 1: Age Action mummy with a missing heart but an intact brain.
Speaker 1: And then there is the Heslington Brain, discovered in Heslington,
Speaker 1: York in two thousand and nine by archaeologists from the
Speaker 1: York Archaeological Trust. While excavating an Iron Age pit, they
Speaker 1: found an intact skull with jaw and two vertebrae still attached.
Speaker 1: When they opened the skull, they found an astonishingly well
Speaker 1: preserved human brain. This was all the more impressive since
Speaker 1: the brain turned up in an unembalmed, otherwise skeletonized human remains.
Speaker 1: The two thousand, six hundred year old brain may have
Speaker 1: remained so well preserved due to the fact that the
Speaker 1: seemingly disembodied head had been cast into a cold, oxygen
Speaker 1: poor environment. Dr Axel pet Sold of the u C. L.
Speaker 1: Queen Square Institute of Neurology has suggested that decay might
Speaker 1: have been halted within three months of death by an
Speaker 1: acidic fluid that may have leaked into the skull, preserving
Speaker 1: outer reach is more than the interior parts of the brain.
Speaker 1: Rodrigo Perez Ortega of Science Magazine has also suggested that
Speaker 1: a brain disease might have helped matters, producing dense protein
Speaker 1: clumps that would have survived better. The brain, of course,
Speaker 1: is not a true artifact, but it is the author
Speaker 1: of artifacts, and given the right circumstances, it takes its
Speaker 1: place on the shelf beside them. Tune into additional editions
Speaker 1: of the artifact each week, hosted by either Joe or myself.
Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your
Speaker 1: Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts,
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