Found 1,700 year old chicken eggs intact

Archaeologists found four Roman-era eggs used to make sacrifices, of which three broke and gave off an unpleasant smell.

The only complete chicken egg from Roman times in England.(Photo: BBC).

A team of experts published the results of excavating a pit in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, after three years of research, the BBC reported on December 6. The excavation took place from 2007-2016, collecting many organic objects such as chicken eggs, leather shoes, wooden tools and an ancient basket. The scale and scope of these findings are beyond the team's expectations, according to Edward Biddulph, project manager at Oxford Archeology South.

From the end of the 3rd century, people started throwing things into holes to pray for good luck, like a prayer well. " The hole is still flooded. This helps preserve a lot of organic matter. The most prominent findings are a basket made of oak and willow and four chicken eggs," Biddulph said. Very fragile eggs, 3 broken eggs give off a particularly unpleasant smell of rotten eggs.

The wicker basket is made of oak and willow under a hollow.(Photo: BBC).

Eggs are associated with reproduction, rebirth and two Roman gods, Mithras and Mercury. Archaeologists have found many pieces of eggshell, often located in Roman tombs. But so far, this is the only complete egg from Roman times discovered in England. Biddulph contends that the ancients may have thrown eggs and bread baskets into the sacrificial food as a religious ritual when conducting funerals.

• A 2,000-year-old chicken egg was intact in an ancient tomb
• Found whole eggs after thousands of years