Archaeologists have discovered a "unique" medical prosthetic implant lodged in the skull of an 18th-century skeleton.
The artificial body part, described in a study published this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, was made for a man with a cleft palate, a congenital defect characterized by a split in the roof of the mouth. The skeleton in question is that of an individual who died at the age of 50 more than two centuries ago and was buried in the crypts of the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Kraków, Poland.
The burial of the man initially came to light during a research project led by Anna Drążkowska of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland who is also an author of the latest study. Her team spotted the burial while exploring one of the crypts.
Subsequently, researchers noticed that the man's skull contained an object that initially resembled a seal. But after cleaning and conservation work, the item turned out to be a prosthesis for the palate, which is now being described for the first time in the scientific literature.
"The discovery of such an unusual object...was quite a surprise for the research team. Especially since it was not found as a random find but was directly related to the person for whom it was made," Anna Spinek, lead author of the latest study with the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, told Newsweek. "We noticed the uniqueness of the prosthesis and wanted to share this discovery with a wider audience."
The purpose of the prosthesis was to separate the man's oral cavity from the nasal cavity, which would have likely had a positive impact on his quality of life. The implant consists of two parts: a metal plate made from copper, silver and gold, and a wool pad.
"This procedure made the everyday life of this person much easier, improving its quality," Marta Kurek, another author of the study with the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection at the University of Lodz, Poland, told Newsweek.
"It prevented the passage of food from the oral cavity to the nasal cavity, decreased the risk of infection within the nasopharynx [which connects the back of the nose to the back of the mouth], facilitated breathing, and improved speech," Kurek said. "The size of the cleft palate and the dimensions of the prosthesis indicate a good fit of the object. We can therefore assume that it fulfilled its role well."
Kurek continued: "We think that finding a prosthesis is not only important from a biological point of view, but also from a cultural [one]. The precision of the prosthesis indicates great craftsmanship. We must remember that the prosthesis is made of metals that are not as easy to work with as modern materials, and yet it was perfectly adapted to the defect. It is an example of precision and knowledge of human anatomy."
These kinds of objects appear to be rare in archaeological contexts. In fact, the researchers determined that the latest find is the first discovery of its kind in Europe.
"The analysis of written sources showed that regardless of the given era, these devices were unique and rarely used, even though their creators, especially those from the 18th century, intended them to be widely used," Spinek said.
"They were made for individual patients and specific disease cases. At that time...they were not mass-produced, because they were individually crafted by dentists themselves. Moreover, considering the material used to produce palate prostheses, only representatives of the richest social classes could probably afford them," she added.
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