Human mummified brain from a medieval tomb with lime‐soil mixture barrier of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea

Abstract

Although all of the Korean medieval mummies found up to the present time have shown relatively well-preserved brains, relevant biomedical information has been difficult to acquire owing to the obstacles to obtaining permission to conduct invasive investigations. However, recently we were able to secure permission to investigate, through various forms of examination including dissection, a well-preserved brain found in a lime-soil mixture barrier (LSMB) tomb in Yongin, Korea, because the remains found within the tomb were mostly skeletal. As in the cases of mummified brains from tombs found in other countries, the current Yongin case showed well-preserved grey and white matter within well demarcated brain lobes, on which sulci and gyri could be identified. On histological examination, we found that the remaining brain tissue was composed mainly of lipids, which seems to correspond to the preserved myelin sheath. The present paper is the first report on the general preservation status of a mummified brain found in Korea. Moreover, because mummified brains are found quite frequently in LSMB medieval tombs, this study could provide a good basis upon which further such palaeo-neuropathological studies can be progressed.

Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington, Yorkshire, UK

“…Brains discovered in skeletons from mass graves have not always been in typically wet or waterlogged sites (Brothwell and GillRobinson, 2002, 125;Radanov et al, 1992) but here the concentration of decaying bodies themselves may be creating the wet, anoxic conditions that seem to predispose preservation of the brain. The shrunken brain of a young adult female, from a 15th or 16th century burial in Yongin, Korea, investigated in 2005 (Kim et al, 2008), is very similar to the Heslington brain. Remains of the meninges (dura), blood vessels, grey and white matter, myelin structures and possible bacterial spores were observed and the soft tissue proved positive for both lipids and proteins.…”

“…Korean tombs prepared in this way often lead to complete mummification where the sealing of the coffin remains intact and frequently brains still survive even where little other soft tissue is preserved. Kim et al (2008) suggest that the limeesoil mixture may be involved in this process. From their account it is not clear how wet the burials are but the fibrous appearance of the wood suggests that it has degraded in a wet, alkaline environment.…”

A Paleoneurohistological Study of 3,000-Year-Old Mummified Brain Tissue from the Mediterranean Bronze Age

“…Later, in 1927, Aichel [8] briefly mentioned recognizable myelin sheaths in a 1,500-year-old bog corpse without providing drawings or photographs. More recent reports have provided information on isolated individuals from different locations such as Egypt [9], Denmark [10], France [6], the South African Savannah [11] and Korea [12], but the largest microscopically analyzed series, to our knowledge, corresponds to 15 unrelated cases from the desert of Northern Chile from 1000 BC to 1500 AD [5]. Using several histochemical stains, the latter study provided convincing evidence of the relatively good preservation of the brain tissue in the mummies found in addition to proof of intracranial hemorrhagic lesions.…”

Preserved brain of the Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach 1799)) from the Yakutian permafrost

“…There are also bog bodies, and several unique freeze-dried mummies are known (Aufderheide, 2003;Lynnerup, 2007). Preserved brain structures are very rare even among numerous findings of these naturally mummified human remains (Tkocz et al, 1979;Radanov et al, 1992;Gerszten and Martinez, 1995;Previgliano et al, 2003;Eklektos et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2008;Maixner et al, 2013). All this findings are much younger than the current specimen (39,440e38,850 cal BP).…”