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Elsevier, Journal of Archaeological Science, 7(38), p. 1641-1654, 2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.030

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

Journal article published in 2011 by Mr Usai, As Wilson, Esam Ali, Salim Al-Sabah, Danish Anwar, Sonia Ali E. Al-Sabah S. Anwar D. Bergström E. Brown K. A. Buckberry J. Buckley S. Collins M. Denton J. Dorling K. Dowle A. Duffey P. Edwards H. G. Faria E. C. Gardner P. Gledhill A. Heaton K. Heron C. Janaway R. Keely B. J. King D. Masinton A. Penkman K. O'Connor, Ka Shackleton, Ed Bergstrom, 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 Gled Sonia O’Connor, Jo Buckberry, Stephen Buckley, Matthew Collins, John Denton, Adam Dowle, Phil Duffey and other authors.
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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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. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.