8,000-year-old brain matter found in child’s skull

Archaeologists working in Norway have found a child’s skull which may contain brain matter that dates back 8,000 years.

The team thinks the skull is too small for an adult and is instead probably from an infant of a maximum of ten years of age, which explains the thin and poorly preserved top of the skull.

‘As the skull is badly preserved, we had to be very gentle, using small tools that we seldom use on Stone Age sites,’ Reitan explains.

‘Having spent nearly 8,000 years in the pit, we had to keep it from drying out quickly. Then it would have turned to dust.’

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Story: Jonathan O’Callaghan, Daily Mail | Photo: G. Reitan/Museum of Culture History, University of Oslo