Roman egg still intact found in UK in ‘amazing’ discovery

Researchers have cracked one of the mysteries hidden within a Roman egg, discovering that it still contains its liquid almost two millennia after it was first laid.

Researchers have cracked one of the mysteries hidden within a Roman egg, discovering that it still contains its liquid almost two millennia after it was first laid. “This is the oldest unintentionally preserved avian egg I have ever seen,” Douglas G.D Russell, senior curator of birds’ eggs and nests at the Natural History Museum (NHM), who was consulted about best preserving the ancient egg, told CNN in a statement Monday. “That makes it fascinating.” He pointed out that there are older eggs with their contents still inside them, like a series of mummified eggs at the NHM, probably excavated in Egypt in 1898, but no other known examples of naturally preserved eggs that are this old. The egg was first discovered in 2010 alongside three others in Aylesbury, England – about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of London – during an excavation conducted by charity Oxford Archaeology, Edward Biddulph, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, told CNN Monday. Pottery and other finds uncovered alongside the egg were dated to the late 3rd century AD, allowing archaeologists to estimate its age too, Biddulph added. Nestled in a pit that had been used to supply water for malting and brewing until around 270 AD, archaeologists believe that the eggs had been left there as gifts to the gods once the pit had fallen into disuse, Biddulph said.