Heslington brain: characteristics of this historical anomaly

The Heslington brain, found in the county of Yorkshire, England, is the oldest preserved human brain. This discovery represents not only an advance for Archeology, but also for Medicine, allowing the investigation of ancient genetic tissues never observed before.

In this article we will see what are the characteristics of Heslington's brain, to whom it belonged, where and when it was discovered, the possible causes of its state of conservation and how important it has been for the different areas scientists.

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What is the Heslington brain?

The Heslington brain is the oldest preserved human brain, dating back to 2,600 years ago, specifically the Iron Age. It is named after the place where it was found, in the town of Heslington, in the historic county of Yorkshire in northern England.

This brain belonged to a male in his 30s, who had a tragic end being brutally beaten on the head, hanged and finally beheaded with a knife. It is not possible to know exactly what was the cause that led him to meet this terrible ending, but

It is believed that it could be due to a ritual or human sacrifice, given the way he was killed and that his head was quickly buried.

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How did the discovery happen?

The skull was found in Heslington, in 2008, during archaeological excavations being carried out by the University of York. There, remains of cultivated fields and of an ancient population that is estimated to have belonged to the Iron Age were found.

Along with other graves and ritual objects, a human skull was found that preserved the lower jaw and the first two cervical vertebrae.. Although at first it was not given more importance, when the archaeologist Rachel Cubitt cleaned it, it was she noticed that inside was a yellow substance that had not been considered before; For this reason she decided that the most appropriate thing would be to preserve the skull in a special way and consult with medical experts given how strange the finding was.

One of the reasons the brain was preserved so well is that the head was buried right after being beheaded.. In this way, the humid underground environment and the mud in which the skull was enveloped made it possible for the brain to keep cold and prevented it from being in contact with air, a fact that prevented the batteries from forming and starting the decomposition.

The cuts and wounds that the skull presented also helped, since in this way it was easier than humic acid, the main component of humic substances, filtered and accessed the brain, thus providing the characteristics of the environment and conservation and mentioned.

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Heslington brain research and analysis

Given the good condition of the brain, never had one of such antiquity been found in such conditions; This gave the possibility of analyzing it and carrying out different tests. It is very difficult to find preserved tissue from so many years, since normally the corpse begins to decompose 36 hours after death and between 5 and 10 years the skeletonization process occurs.

In this way, by studying the find it was learned that the skull belonged to a middle-aged man, about 30 years, who had been brutally murdered between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, more or less between the years 673 and 482 a. C.

By performing the computed tomography test, which allows images of different brain slices to be obtained, it was possible to observe the typical gray and white matter that forms the brain, as well as the furrows, convolutions and gyri that form its structure. Thus, despite being mixed with sediment and having been reduced to 20% of its size, the main brain structures and anatomical features were still visible.

But... What factors made it so well preserved after so many years? As we already know, a primary factor was the immediate preservation of the brain in a humid place without much air, oxygen. This fact has also been observed in other discoveries of not so ancient brain remains.

Another important finding was that no residual adipocyte substance was observed, a type of fat that appears on corpses when they begin to decompose. An attempt was made to explain this event by alluding to the separation of the head and the body, causing the decomposition of the body not to affect the brain.

Regarding the disunity of the head and the body, it should also be noted that most of the decomposition of the corpse is due to a group of bacteria originating from the gastrointestinal tract. On this occasion, when the head was detached from the body, the bacteria could not reach it, thus helping to maintain the brain.

Another aspect that had never been observed before was also discovered; It was found that the main substances that make up the brain under normal conditions, such as proteins and lipids, they had been replaced by hydrocarbon molecules with a longer chain and higher molecular weight; This fact had caused it to become more resistant.

Recently, on January 8, 2020, University College London neurologist Axel Petzold published new research in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, where he presented a study of the Heslington brain focused on the molecular perspective with special interest in the protein, responsible for connecting the body tissue.

The research was intense and long, studying and observing how the proteins in that particular brain developed and evolved. The laboratory work paid off and more than 800 proteins could be found and identified; it was surprising to observe that Most of these proteins were still in good condition, and could even generate an immune response.

In this way it was pointed out that the greater resistance and the ability to persist was due in part to the fact that they had come together, folded forming little packages that made them more compact and at the same time more stable than those found in normal situations in the brains of living people. This is how Petzold deduced that this state of compaction of the proteins allowed them to last longer, also making them more resistant to the cerebral decomposition produced after death.

This finding was transcendent not only for Archeology but also within the field of Medicine.Since some brain structures were discovered, the presence of which allowed the matter of Heslington's brain to be preserved in perfect condition. These two structures are two types of brain fibers called neurofilaments and acid proteins. glial fibrillar cells, whose joint work allows to give more consistency and protect neurons and astrocytes, a type of glial cell.

It was also observed that the decomposition autolysis process occurred in the external parts of the gray matter and not in the internal parts of the white matter where it is typically found. For this reason, since there was no internal element of the brain to explain it, it was concluded that most likely a external substance had entered the brain before or after the death of the victim, something caused perhaps by the type of death that is he effected.

Also this question remains an enigma and is not confirmed; Other possibilities are still being considered, such as the man himself who had an uncategorized disease that favored the brain to remain in this state.

Thus, it is believed that it was a set of determined and specific conditions and factors, both before and after death, those that allowed such conservation.

Although more research is still needed, this discovery could facilitate a better understanding of the process of aging of the brain and, specifically, neurodegenerative diseases where proteins intervene, as would be the case of some dementias. Similarly, these findings could also help researchers to obtain information from other ancient tissues from which the genetic material, the DNA