In 1982 , an ancient burial land site was hear by chance event during the construction of a new road . The operator of a digger noticed skulls collecting in the machinery , triggering an excavation and probe , uncovering over 177 human remains that date back 7,000 to 8,000 old age ago .
The peat - bottomed pond in what ’s now known as Florida preserved the corpses so well that some were even come up withbrain tissuestill present . Once thought to be improbably rare , new research challenges the view that brains do n’t preserve well , bring out we ’ve found a dandy abundance ofpreserved human brains , sometimes with the once - squishy think harmonium being the only soft tissue paper still standing in an otherwiseskeletonizedbody .
The Windover bog bodies
The Windover archeological land site has yielded around177 bog body , make it one of North America ’s most substantial bog body situation ever strike . The body seem to be link , as betoken by ashared allelein a extremely variable part of the genome that scientist let out when analyzing deoxyribonucleic acid from the stiff . The status of the bog preserved the clay so well that Windover is considered the most extensively qualify blotto site with regards to ancient human DNA .
The Windover bog torso were mostly buried in a flexed position on their sides , sinking to a astuteness of around 1 meter ( 3 foot ) where they would sit undisturbed for 7,000 - 8,000 geezerhood . Excavations from 1984 to 1987 yielded the gaunt remains of 177 individuals , sweep all age , and one-half of whom still had voice of their brain by the time they were retrieved .
How did the Windover bog bodies remain so well preserved?
Bogs are uniquely in force at preserving remains , sometimes turning up bodies so fresh that they get mixed up with modern - day execution . The water chemistry at Windover was found to be a essential part of what preserved the remains for so long , containing mint of minerals and being anaerobic within a few centimeters below the surface . Combined , these factors inhibit the kind of bacterial and fungal rotting of tissues we typically see with stagnant body out in the outdoors .
The server of organisms that constellate to a freshly dead corpse is jazz as thedecomposition ecosystem , and insect are a crucial part of it . Want to learn how we ’ve turned our knowledge of clay - feeding louse to skill ’s favour ? Tune in toCURIOUS Livewhere we ’ll be speaking toDr Erica McAlister and Adrian Washbourneall about the intriguing field of forensic entomology .
