Papers by Alexandra Morton-Hayward
Human brains preserve in diverse environments for at least 12 000 years, 2024
The brain is thought to be among the first human organs to decompose after death. The discovery ... more 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.
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STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2020
Brain tissue is ubiquitous in the archaeological record. Multiple, independent studies report the... more Brain tissue is ubiquitous in the archaeological record. Multiple, independent studies report the finding of black, resinous or shiny brain tissue, and Petrone et al. [2020 “Heat-induced Brain Vitrification from the Vesuvius Eruption in C.E. 79.” N Engl J Med. 382: 383–384; doi:10.1056/NEJMc1909867] raise the intriguing prospect of a role for vitrification in the preservation of ancient biomolecules. However, Petrone et al. (2020) have not made their raw data available, and no detailed laboratory or analytical methodology is offered. Issues of contamination and misinterpretation hampered a decade of research in biomolecular archaeology, such that addressing these sources of bias and facilitating validation of specious findings has become both routine and of paramount importance in the discipline. We argue that the evidence they present does not support their conclusion of heat-induced vitrification of human brain tissue, and that future studies should share palaeoproteomic data in a...
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A conscious rethink: Why is brain tissue commonly preserved in the archaeological record? Commentary on: Petrone P, Pucci P, Niola M, et al. Heat-induced brain vitrification from the Vesuvius eruption in C.E. 79. N Engl J Med 2020;382:383-4. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1909867, 2020
Brain tissue is ubiquitous in the archaeological record. Multiple, independent studies report the... more Brain tissue is ubiquitous in the archaeological record. Multiple, independent studies report the
finding of black, resinous or shiny brain tissue, and Petrone et al. [2020 “Heat-induced Brain
Vitrification from the Vesuvius Eruption in C.E. 79.” N Engl J Med. 382: 383–384; doi:10.1056/
NEJMc1909867] raise the intriguing prospect of a role for vitrification in the preservation of
ancient biomolecules. However, Petrone et al. (2020) have not made their raw data available,
and no detailed laboratory or analytical methodology is offered. Issues of contamination and
misinterpretation hampered a decade of research in biomolecular archaeology, such that
addressing these sources of bias and facilitating validation of specious findings has become
both routine and of paramount importance in the discipline. We argue that the evidence
they present does not support their conclusion of heat-induced vitrification of human brain
tissue, and that future studies should share palaeoproteomic data in an open access
repository to facilitate comparative analysis of the recovery of ancient proteins and patterns
of their degradation.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
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Papers by Alexandra Morton-Hayward
finding of black, resinous or shiny brain tissue, and Petrone et al. [2020 “Heat-induced Brain
Vitrification from the Vesuvius Eruption in C.E. 79.” N Engl J Med. 382: 383–384; doi:10.1056/
NEJMc1909867] raise the intriguing prospect of a role for vitrification in the preservation of
ancient biomolecules. However, Petrone et al. (2020) have not made their raw data available,
and no detailed laboratory or analytical methodology is offered. Issues of contamination and
misinterpretation hampered a decade of research in biomolecular archaeology, such that
addressing these sources of bias and facilitating validation of specious findings has become
both routine and of paramount importance in the discipline. We argue that the evidence
they present does not support their conclusion of heat-induced vitrification of human brain
tissue, and that future studies should share palaeoproteomic data in an open access
repository to facilitate comparative analysis of the recovery of ancient proteins and patterns
of their degradation.
finding of black, resinous or shiny brain tissue, and Petrone et al. [2020 “Heat-induced Brain
Vitrification from the Vesuvius Eruption in C.E. 79.” N Engl J Med. 382: 383–384; doi:10.1056/
NEJMc1909867] raise the intriguing prospect of a role for vitrification in the preservation of
ancient biomolecules. However, Petrone et al. (2020) have not made their raw data available,
and no detailed laboratory or analytical methodology is offered. Issues of contamination and
misinterpretation hampered a decade of research in biomolecular archaeology, such that
addressing these sources of bias and facilitating validation of specious findings has become
both routine and of paramount importance in the discipline. We argue that the evidence
they present does not support their conclusion of heat-induced vitrification of human brain
tissue, and that future studies should share palaeoproteomic data in an open access
repository to facilitate comparative analysis of the recovery of ancient proteins and patterns
of their degradation.