Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Hospital Clínic and Institut d'Investigacions August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Pathobiology. 2012;79(5):239-46. doi: 10.1159/000334353. Epub 2012 Jun 21.
Mummified nervous tissue is very rarely found in ancient remains and usually corresponds to corpses which were frozen or preserved in bogs, conditions which limit tissue autolysis and bacterial degradation. Here, we show the unusual finding of spontaneously mummified brain tissue from several individuals from the little known megalithic talaiotic culture of the island of Minorca, dating approximately 3,000 years before present and corresponding to the late Mediterranean Bronze Age.
These individuals were part of an intact burial site containing 66 subjects. Intracraneal samples were carefully rehydrated with Sandison's solution. We used classical histochemical as well as 2D and 3D (scanning) electron-microscopic techniques.
We provide evidence of the nervous nature of the samples as well as a detailed description of the morphological features of these ancient tissues. The intracranial material consisted of well-preserved eosinophilic reticular tissue and, although mostly absent, some exceptional pigment-containing neurons were identified.
We present a detailed morphological analysis which can provide valuable information and guidelines for the interpretation of this scarce type of mummified samples and provide explanations for this surprising preservation.
木乃伊化的神经组织在古代遗骸中非常罕见，通常与那些被冷冻或保存在沼泽中的尸体相对应，这些条件限制了组织自溶和细菌降解。在这里，我们展示了来自马略卡岛的鲜为人知的巨石塔利奥文化的几个个体的自发木乃伊化脑组织的异常发现，这些个体的年代约为现在 3000 年前，对应于地中海青铜时代晚期。
这些个体是一个完整的埋葬地点的一部分，其中包含 66 个个体。颅内样本用桑迪森溶液小心地再水化。我们使用了经典的组织化学以及 2D 和 3D（扫描）电子显微镜技术。
我们提供了证据表明这些样本具有神经性质，并详细描述了这些古代组织的形态特征。颅内材料由保存完好的嗜酸性网状组织组成，虽然大部分缺失，但也鉴定出了一些罕见的含色素神经元。
我们进行了详细的形态学分析，这可以为这种罕见类型的木乃伊化样本的解释提供有价值的信息和指导，并为这种令人惊讶的保存提供解释。
