A most significant find came only weeks into the project when one of the project directors found a lump of slippery, dark brown material inside a skull. There was cautious speculation that it might be preserved brain tissue, but common sense said that would not be possible--that any tissue would have dissipated into the black peat thousands of years ago. Laboratory tests proved however, that cautious speculation had become reality. The material was, indeed, human brain tissue. This first find was from a woman who died at approximately 45 years of age. Over the three six-month field seasons 91 skulls were found to contain brain tissue. Some contained complete brains. Although they were shrunken to a third their normal size, the brain hemispheres and convolutions were clearly intact. The finding of such a large amount of ancient brain tissue made the find especially unique. Never before had scientists had the opportunity to try to clone DNA--the basic building block of heredity from tissue so old.
Brain tissue was taken from the skulls as quickly as possible and placed in plastic bags which were then flooded with nitrogen gas. This purged oxygen from the bag and chilled the tissue. The bags were transported to a laboratory where they were frozen at -70 degrees centigrade to minimize degradation.
http://www.nbbd.com/godo/history/windover
http://www.nbbd.com/godo/history/windover/BonesTall.jpeg
