The well-preserved brain and skin remains of humans who lived in Turkey some 3,700 years ago have been found by a team of researchers.
Stock image: An archaeologist excavating a set of human remains. Researchers have discovered the well-preserved brain and skin remnants of people who lived around 3,700 years ago.
The remains were discovered in the Tavşanlı Mound (or Tavşanlı Höyük) in Turkey's Kütahya region, which is situated in the western part of the Anatolian peninsula. They belonged to two Bronze Age people.
The mound is known as the "Heart of Western Anatolia" because from above it looks to have a heart shape.
The unusual brain and skin remnants were uncovered at the site during recent excavations that were directed by scientists from Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University.
According to the Anadolu Agency (AA), the remains belonged to a young man who was between the ages of 15 and 18 when he passed away and another middle-aged male who was between the ages of 40 and 45.
These people, according to researchers, perished during an attack some 3,700 years ago when their dwellings were set on fire and they were unable to escape.
The research's principal investigator, archaeologist Erkan Fidan from Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, claims that the mound is the oldest village in the area and was probably the region's capital during the Bronze Age.
Evidence indicates that the city was the target of a significant assault that left the entire settlement completely destroyed circa 1700 B.C.
According to Yılmaz Selim Erdal of Hacettepe University's Anthropology Department, the fact that both skeletons appeared to have been subjected to intense heat is what caused the brain tissue to be preserved inside the skull.
In one of the skeletons, between the chest and the abdomen, the archaeologists discovered skin fragments that had also been carbonized by heat.
Carbonization is the process of turning a substance into carbon, usually through burning or heating or during the fossilization process.
The most recent discoveries mark the first time in the nation that such skin remains have been discovered during archaeological investigations. On the other hand, the preserved brain material has been discovered four or five times before, according to the researchers.
The archaeologists are now looking into the motive for the attack on the community and possible suspects.
The most recent research was presented at a conference put on by the European Association of Archaeologists between August 30 and September 2 of this year in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
