18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archeological study shows unearthed Byzantine warrior had gold-threaded jaw

A Byzantine warrior who was beheaded after the Ottomans captured his fort in the 14th century had a jaw threaded with gold, a new study finds, reports Live Science magazine.

The study, led by Anagnostis Agelarakis, an anthropology professor in the Department of History at Adelphi University in New York, found that the warrior’s lower jaw had been badly fractured in a previous incident, but that a skilled physician had used a wire — most likely gold crafted — to tie it back together until it healed.

According to the article, the surgeon who operated on his jaw appears to have followed the instructions of the fifth-century B.C. The Greek physician Hippocrates, who published a treatise on jaw injuries some 1,800 years before the warrior was injured.

“The jaw was shattered into two pieces,” said study author Anagnostis Agelarakis.

 The medical professional appears to have followed the advice laid out by the fifth-century B.C. The Greek physician Hippocrates, who wrote a treatise covering jaw injuries about 1,800 years before the warrior was wounded.
The medical professional appears to have followed the advice laid out by the fifth-century B.C. The Greek physician Hippocrates, who wrote a treatise covering jaw injuries about 1,800 years before the warrior was wounded. Photo: Anagnostis P. Agelarakis

The almost 650-year-old healed jaw is an incredible find because it demonstrates the accuracy with which “the medical professional was able to put the two major fragments of the jaw together.”

In 1991, Agelarakis and his colleagues found the warrior’s skull and lower jaw in Polystylon fort, an archaeological site in Western Thrace, Greece. The Byzantine Empire, often known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was under attack by the Ottomans when the fighter was alive in the 14th century. Given that the warrior was decapitated, he most likely battled until the Ottomans conquered Polystylon fort.

As the fort fell, the Ottomans most likely seized and beheaded the warrior; subsequently, an unknown individual stole the warrior’s head and buried it, most likely without “consent of the subjugators, given that the remainder of the body was not recovered,” Agelarakis stated in the research. However, the warrior’s head was put in the pre-existing tomb of a 5-year-old kid, who was buried in the middle of a 20-plot cemetery at Polystylon fort. At the grave, Agelarakis discovered a shattered ceramic cup, which may have been used to dig the hole for the warrior’s skull.

Related Articles

The impressive Statue of young Hercules unearthed in Philippi, Northern Greece

24 September 2022

24 September 2022

A larger-than-life youthful Hercules statue dating to the 2nd century A.D. have been found in the ancient city of Philippi...

Viking Family identified using New DNA Technology

9 June 2021

9 June 2021

Researchers were able to confirm the connection between two Viking remains discovered in Denmark and England thanks to new DNA...

3,500-Year-Old Opal Workshop and Rare Lithophones Unearthed in Vietnam

17 August 2025

17 August 2025

Archaeologists in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province have uncovered a remarkable prehistoric site dating back more than 3,500 years. Excavations at...

A basement discovered on the premises of the ruins of Hitoyoshi Castle in Japan could be a Jewish bathing facility!

7 December 2022

7 December 2022

Experts are still indecisive about why there was a bathing area in the basement which was discovered on the site...

Artificial Intelligence Project That Will Revolutionize Archaeology

5 April 2021

5 April 2021

Polish Scientists to opening a new era in archeology They plan to use artificial intelligence to detect prehistoric cemeteries, castles,...

2,000-Year-Old Unique Composite Fish Scaled Armor Found in Ancient Tomb

20 December 2024

20 December 2024

Chinese researchers have recently found fish-scaled armor in the tomb of Liu He, Marquis of Haihun from the Western Han...

Archaeologists discover ‘exceptional’ ancient Roman sanctuary in near intact condition in Netherlands

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a relatively intact 1st-century Roman sanctuary in the town of Herwen-Hemeling in the province of Gelderland in...

More than 1,300 prehistoric burial mounds in western Azerbaijan systematically surveyed for the first time

2 January 2025

2 January 2025

Over 1,300 archaeological sites in Azerbaijan were systematically surveyed and documented in two field campaigns in 2021 and 2023 by...

Builders of Massive 6000-year-old Menga Dolmen Likely Understood Geometry and other “Early Science” Concepts

25 August 2024

25 August 2024

Researchers say that a new analysis of the 6000-year-old stone Menga (also known as the Dolmen of Menga), supported by...

Shetland Discoveries Seem Close to Uncovering Ancient Viking Capital

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

Important discoveries were made on the last day of excavations to find the ancient Viking capital of Shetland, through the...

One of the largest mass burial pits ever discovered in the UK has been unearthed next to Leicester Cathedral

21 November 2024

21 November 2024

While excavating the gardens of Leicester Cathedral for the future construction of a learning center, archaeologists uncovered one of the...

Archaeologists discovered 130 dwellings around the Ringheiligtum Pömmelte monument “German Stonehenge”

15 June 2021

15 June 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed 130 dwellings at an Early Bronze Age monument in Germany, indicating that the ‘Stonehenge’ was once home...

6,000 years old Underwater Ruins Discovered off Cuba: A Lost City Older Than the Pyramids — Or Be a Geological Oddity?

10 August 2025

10 August 2025

Recently, a mysterious discovery has resurfaced on social media, reigniting debates and curiosity worldwide: the so-called “lost city” said to...

Origin of Ivory Rings Found in Elite Anglo-Saxon Burials

2 July 2023

2 July 2023

An elite class of ancient Anglo-Saxon women were buried with hundreds of ivory rings, and the origin of these ivory...

A ‘Talismanic Grave Tablet’ Believed to Protect From Evil Found in Silifke Castle

3 September 2024

3 September 2024

During excavations in the Silifke castle located on lies on a hill in the town with the same name in...