Archeologists find 1,700-year-old chicken egg that still has its contents

Researchers in Britain have found an intact chicken egg at an archaeology dig site that is believed to be at least 1,700 years old, according to The BBC.

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According to scientists, the egg still has liquid inside.

A micro CT scan - a scan that produces 3D images - revealed the contents of the egg, complete with the air sac, the BBC story reported.

The “Aylesbury egg” is one of four that were found alongside a woven basket, pottery vessels, leather shoes and animal bone in 2010, The Guardian reported.

The eggs were found as a site was being explored ahead of a major development in the area.

Three of the four eggs were broken as they were being retrieved. According to those on the site, the nearly 2,000-year-old eggs released a “potent stench” when they broke.

The fourth egg was retrieved intact.

Edward Biddulph, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, which oversaw the excavation, said it was “amazing to find an intact egg from that period in the country, but it was “absolutely incredible” that the egg still retains its original contents.

Dana Goodburn-Brown, an archaeological conservator and materials scientist, suggested the egg be scanned to determine how best to preserve it.

After it was scanned, researchers were shocked to find out that not only was the egg intact, but that it still contained the liquid inside.

“The egg turned out to be even more amazing. It still contained its liquid, the yolk and the white,” Biddulph said.

“We might have expected it to have leached out over the centuries but it is still there. It is absolutely incredible.”

The egg is being housed at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury while work continues to figure out how to extract the contents without breaking the shell.

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