Angel, Very old grain seeds have been found by archaeologists at many different sites around the world. I'm talking thousands of years old. And yes folks who know what' they're doing have been brought in to try to germinate them. But grain seed is ver y susceptible to destruction by dampness and without doing a search, I don't believe anything found from thousands of years ago has ever been germinated. Weed and herb seeds from a few hundred years ago, yes, many have been germimnated. Bean seeds have also been found at archaerological sites and by private folks as well. The best known example is the Anazazi beans fr om the SW US. And yes, some of those have been germinated. Again, a few hundred years old. The best documented oldest seeds germinated were lotus seeds found in a bog in China. The oldest one germonated was about 1200 years old and you can read the link in the Google search I linked to below . You'll read claim after claim for germination of very old seeds but there are lots of folks who like to tell tales. One great one was the so called discovery of tomato seeds in an Egyptian tomb which were called Oos Oos Pei. Problem was that tomatoes only left this continent with the Spanish in the 1400's and the claim for these seeds in Egypt was from about 2000 B.C.E. Sigh. And on and on it goes. So please read some of the links below and I think you'll see that the lotus seeds at 1200 years old are the oldest to be germinated. Carolyn, who subscibes to several archaeology magazines and who follows the old seed germination reports with great interest. Here is a link that might be useful: Google Search; oldest seeds germinated

You have two totally different types of seeds because one is a palm and one is a cycad. If I had to guess, I'd say it is too late for both types. I can't tell the difference in palm seeds on viability, but I can tell about cycads. Since the seeds have not been kept moist or protected in any way, I'd just give them the float test. Throw them in a bucket of water and see if any float, which most likely, all or most all of them will. You have a chance with any that sink. If you have a lot of the sago seeds, you can cut one in half, along the natural seems of the seed and look to see how bad off they are. If you have lots of them, cutting a couple gives you a real good idea of what you are dealing with.

You palm seedling is dead sorry.They are not easy to keep alive. If you want more I know someone in puerto rico that usually has them.I can give you his email.Send me a message if you want his address.

I'd make sure you have an area where th air temperatures are at least 65 degrees and bottom heat of around 80 degrees for the seed germination media. One year, I tried germinating sages with temperatures ten degrees cooler, and had little luck that year. We had a really long, cold winter last year, and I waited til late March when it was warmer, and got really good germination. If you have to guess, the warmer option is always better. I use bright light with the seed uncovered, and misting the top crust of the media on a daily basis to keep it from drying out works, with bottom watering as needed on a longer term basis (more like once, maybe twice a week). I like using milled sphagnum moss for the top layer, since this has mild anti-fungal properties. If you get a big build-up of algae before the seed germinates, this is a sign of either too much moisture or not enough heat, or both.