Hundreds of Roman-era medical instruments now being examined by scientists may come from one of the earliest known examples of a group medical practice, or at least a place where health care workers congregated to treat people.
A total of 348 artifacts linked to medicine were found at the site of Allianoi, an ancient town that also hosted a large spa-like bath in what is now Turkey. The vast number of the 1,800-year-old artifacts may indicate the site once featured an ancient medical center. The instruments were discovered during rescue excavations that were carried out between 1998 and 2006, before the construction of a dam that flooded the site. Most of the artifacts, which have been studied over the years, were found within two buildings in a larger complex.
“Allianoi was, perhaps, one of the earliest known cases of an organized, group medical practice,” Sarah Yeomans, an archaeologist at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, wrote in the abstract of a paper she presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Classical Studies, which ran from Jan. 4 to 7 in Chicago.
“The categories and variety of surgical instruments indicate that relatively sophisticated surgical procedures were undertaken at Allianoi,” Yeomans wrote. These include instruments used to remove hemorrhoids, as well as tools to extract bladder and kidney stones. Other instruments indicate that cataract surgery, or the removal of a person’s cloudy eye lens, and the suturing of wounds may also have taken place at the center.
The researchers don’t know how many medical practitioners worked at the site at any one time, “though it was likely dozens or more, depending on the time period,” Yeomans told Live Science in an email.
