A puzzling set of medical equipment dating back to 2,000 years ago has been found in Hungary alongside the remains of its owner, an ancient Roman doctor. Archaeologists from Eötvös Loránd University, the Jász Museum and the Eötvös Loránd Research Network unearthed the tomb and artifacts near Jászberény, 35 miles east of Budapest, and presented their findings at a a conference on April 25.
The find was dubbed “unique in European terms.” Similar kits have been found in Britain across the Mediterranean, including a notable set from Pompeii, but the most extensive collection found to date still lives in northern Italy. Domus del Chirurgo.
Excavations at Jászberény began last year, Telex reported, giving a wide range of objects from the Copper Age (4,500 to 3,500 BCE) and Avar period (vs. 560 and c. 790 CE.), justifying a magnetometer reading. Assistant researcher Levente Samu said the team discovered earlier architectural remains in an Avar cemetery at the site. The students helped dig an intact but shallow grave, revealing a skull, leg bones and metal tools buried in a wooden box at the feet of the body.
Samu Levente presents the team’s findings. Courtesy of ELTE BTK.
Closer inspection revealed that these tools were intended for surgery, including forceps, needles, tweezers and copper alloy scalpels fitted with interchangeable steel blades to perform complex procedures. The scalpels featured silver tarsia accents of a typically Roman aesthetic – confirmed by radiocarbon dating on the tomb itself, which clocked it to the 1st century CE The skeleton belonged to a healthy man in 50s or 60s with no signs of physical trauma. Drug residue sprinkled his collection, including the grinding wheel likely used to mix herbs and medicines.
The quality of this toolbox leads researchers to wonder how such a well-equipped doctor ended up in the Roman hinterland. In his time, surgery was a profession like any other: women and freedmen made up a large proportion of diverse doctors, specializing in battlefields or home visits.
Next, the researchers will perform DNA testing and isotopic analysis of the skeleton to determine whether it is from that transitional time and place in Hungary, whether it traveled there to treat an important leader, or whether it is simply followed in the footsteps of the army.
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