Archeologists in the U.K. recently uncovered one of the oldest and best-preserved human brains known to scientists — and it’s all because the body was buried in a bog void of oxygen.

The brain, believed to belong to an Iron Age man in his 30s, was discovered in a human skull near Heslington, England. Scientists have determined it’s likely more than 2,600 years old.

Discovery News has an article about the brain, and reports Iron Age man was likely hanged, then decapitated.

The brain was naturally preserved, and shows no signs of bacteria or fungus. It’s odorless and has the consistency of tofu.

Discovery News reports:

[Researcher Sonia O’Connor and her] colleagues suggest that a fortuitous series of events — for the brain and science, not the victim — led to the organ’s preservation. Shortly after the man was killed, his head must have been placed, or fallen into, the waterlogged pit that was free of oxygen. While other soft human body parts may not preserve well under such conditions, the wet environment appears to be perfect for keeping brains “fresh,” “due to the very different chemistry of brain tissue,” O’Connor said. The researchers don’t think the violent way the man was killed aided his brain’s preservation. While severing his head separated it from the rest of his body, including the bacteria-filled gut, the decapitation “would also have produced a gaping wound that would have been open to immediate infection from micro-organisms involved in putrefaction.” The quick burial in conditions not suited for microbial activity likely prevented that from happening.

The brain is now being examined for clues about life and death in the Iron Age, according to the York Archeological Trust. Initial findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

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