2024-08-06 14:16:17
A group of researchers managed to decipher what was inside a Roman egg almost two millennia later: its yolk and its white.
As it became known, It is the only complete egg ever found dating from the Roman occupation of Britain.
Found in 2010 along with three others in Aylesbury (England), The egg was sent to the Natural History Museum in London (NHM)where scientists sought help on how to preserve it and recover its contents.
The discovery was made during an excavation carried out by the Oxford Archaeology organisation.
In addition to the egg, other items were found and are said to date back to the late 3rd century AD, allowing its age to be estimated.
Douglas G.D Russellsenior curator of bird eggs and nests at NHM, told CNN that “This is the oldest unintentionally preserved bird egg”.
The eggs were located in a well that had been used to supply water for malting and brewing until around 270 AD.
According to a story by Edward Biddulphsenior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, Archaeologists believe the eggs were left there as a gift to the gods once the well fell into disuse.
«These types of areas in the Roman world tend to encourage rituals… such as offerings to the gods or good luck, just as people do today by throwing coins into fountains.»Biddulph added.
Although three of the four eggs were intact when they were found, two were broken and only one remained intact.
However, it was not until August 2023 that researchers discovered that the liquid inside was fully preserved, so researchers plan to carefully extract it to study it better.