The egg was preserved largely due to the nature of where it was discovered, wrapped in a layer of human feces that created rare anaerobic conditions, according to the archaeologists, which, in fact, helped in creating the perfect conditions to preserve its thin shell.
Israeli archeologists uncovered a perfectly intact chicken egg dating from about 1021 CE in Yavne, a city in central Israel, but as they tried to clean it up and maintain its perfect condition, the shell unfortunately cracked.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, the archeologic gem was discovered in a cesspit by scientists from the Israel Antiquities Authority while excavating Yavne as part of an urban development project in the city.
The find’s rarity was described by Dr. Lee Perry Gal, a recognized researcher on ancient world poultry.
However, the egg’s shell shattered while it was being taken from the excavation site despite considerable attempts by archaeologists and a conservationist to keep it in good condition. Luckily, it was restored in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s organics laboratory.
“Even today, eggs rarely survive for long in supermarket cartons. It’s amazing to think this is a 1,000-year-old find,” Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Alla Nagorsky, the excavation director at the site of the discovery, is also quoted in the statement as saying.
According to the researchers, chickens have existed in Israel for almost 2,300 years, dating back to the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. And the presence of chickens has been ever-growing, following the VII century AD rise of Islam in the region, with a ban on consuming pork, as evidenced by the decrease in pig bones found at several locations in the region.
Apart from the medieval egg, three bone dolls used as toys during the Islamic period, approximately 1,000 years ago, were also discovered in the cesspit.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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