PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The brain is thought to be among the first human organs to decompose after death. The discovery of brains preserved in the archaeological record is therefore regarded as unusual. Although mechanisms such as dehydration, freezing, saponification, and tanning are known to allow for the preservation of the brain on short time scales in association with other soft tissues (≲4000 years), discoveries of older brains, especially in the absence of other soft tissues, are rare. Here, we collated an archive of more than 4400 human brains preserved in the archaeological record across approximately 12 000 years, more than 1300 of which constitute the only soft tissue preserved amongst otherwise skeletonized remains. We found that brains of this type persist on time scales exceeding those preserved by other means, which suggests an unknown mechanism may be responsible for preservation particular to the central nervous system. The untapped archive of preserved ancient brains represents an opportunity for bioarchaeological studies of human evolution, health and disease.
摘要：
大脑被认为是人类死亡后最早分解的器官之一。因此，考古记录中保存的大脑的发现被认为是不寻常的。虽然脱水等机制，冻结,皂化，并且已知晒黑可以在短时间内与其他软组织（4000年）相关联地保存大脑，发现更老的大脑，尤其是在没有其他软组织的情况下，是罕见的。这里,我们整理了大约12000年的考古记录中保存的4400多个人类大脑的档案，其中1300多个是骨骼化遗骸中唯一保留的软组织。我们发现这种类型的大脑在时间尺度上持续存在，超过了通过其他方式保存的时间尺度，这表明一种未知的机制可能是中枢神经系统特有的保护机制。保存完好的古代大脑的未开发档案为人类进化的生物考古学研究提供了机会，健康与疾病。
