Although it will no longer be a chick, a chicken egg from 1,700 years ago remained completely intact, and its contents had not even leaked out.

Excavations in Aylesbury, England, have uncovered what appears to be an unprecedented find: a 1,700-year-old chicken egg that is almost completely intact and, if that wasn't enough, appears to contain liquid.

The supposed Roman wishing well was excavated between 2007 and 2016, and three other eggs were found. These did not remain intact, but according to archaeologists, after they were broken, they emitted a rather strong unpleasant odor.

The intact piece underwent a special scanning procedure that did not damage the egg. This revealed that its contents could still be separated into yolk and white, which may mean that this is the only intact egg from such an ancient era.

A 3D image of an egg

Edward Biddulph, senior project director at Oxford University Archaeology, who also led the excavation, said: The Independent To their interest, they were completely astonished when they saw that they had the contents of the egg – they thought it had actually leaked.

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The egg is now at the Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury, where experts are working out how to extract its contents without significantly breaking the shell.