Iron Age woman likely had her brains scooped out before burial, study suggests | CNN

An Iron Age Scottish woman likely had her brains scooped out after she died as part of her burial, according to a new study that sheds further light on the complex funerary rites of this prehistoric culture. Researchers from the UK and US found that this individual, most likely over the age of 30, had cuts on the inside of her skull. These straight and parallel incisions were probably caused by “deliberate scratching or cutting” with a “sharp” tool, according to the study published in the journal Antiquity. The base of her cranium was also broken in an “unusual” way, suggesting that the fracture was the result of “an intentional targeted impact,” the researchers noted. Together, the fracture and the cutmarks “are suggestive of deliberate removal of the brain soon after the death of this individual,” they said. The cutmarks were “also in the part of the cranium where you have ligaments attaching the brain to the skull, so it would make sense that you would want to scratch those if the intent is to remove the brain,” lead study author and archaeologist Laura Castells Navarro, a postdoctoral research associate at the UK’s University of York, told CNN Tuesday.

Jun 9, 2026 → Jun 9, 2026