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A 4,000-year-old brain has been found from Seyitömer Höyük settlement in Turkey. The brain was preserved by a combination of mineral-rich soil, fire and something called as “corpse wax”.

In appearance, the brain looked similar to a piece of burned log, but scientists are hopeful that it could unlock clues to the prehistoric mind.

According to scientists from Halic University in Istanbul confirm that special circumstances let to its preservation. Investigators believe that earthquake struck the region and buried everyone before fire spread. The human skeleton were found burned in a layer of sediment that also contained charred wood, reported Fox News.

“The level of preservation in combination with the age is remarkable,” said Frank Rühli, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, according to Newsmax. 

Rühli also feels that most archaeologists ignore the remains of brain tissue because they assume that the chances of getting it preserved are quite less.

The flames in the earthquake is believed to have consumed all the oxygen in the rubble and completely boiled the brains. Also without moisture and oxygen, the remains of the brain boiled and burned and perhaps got preserved for millennia.

However its not the first brain to survive thousands of years, but certainly its the oldest one to be found.

Rühli also told that it might be possible to look of pathological conditions such as tumors and degenerative diseases in old brains, reported Fox News. 

“If we want to learn more about the history of neurological disorders, we need to have tissue like this,” he added.