11 February 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

Academics Uncover Ancient Roman Physicians Galen’s Pharmacy Legacy in İzmir

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

As a part of research on medicinal plants in Bergama, İzmir’s historic district where Galen (129 AD -200 AD) once...

A Roman statue of the sea god Triton discovered near A2, London Road

13 September 2023

13 September 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman Statue of Triton during excavations in preparation for a housing development in Kent, England. Archaeologists...

Beautiful’ Water-Nymph statue turns out to be Aphrodite

20 October 2023

20 October 2023

The statue of a nymph (water fairy) discovered last month during excavations in the Ancient City of Amastris was identified...

A Rare Bilingual Inscription Discovered in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Province

28 June 2024

28 June 2024

Saudi Arabia’s Heritage Commission announced the discovery of a rare bilingual inscription in the village of Alqan in the Tabuk...

Urartian King Argishti’s shield reveals the name of an unknown country

30 January 2023

30 January 2023

The inscription on a bronze shield purchased by the Rezan Has Museum revealed the name of an unknown country. It...

When the waters receded, the mounds of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy, bearing the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, came to light

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The important cultural areas of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy mounds, which bear the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, represented by kurgans...

Ukraine says Russian forces stole Scythian treasures from Melitopol Museum

11 May 2022

11 May 2022

Invading Russian troops have stolen items of ancient Scythian gold and other historical and cultural valuables that were stored in...

Over 1,600-yr-old tomb of embracing lovers found in north China

16 August 2021

16 August 2021

Archaeologists recently published a study of the tomb of cuddling lovers, dating to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), more than...

A unique tomb decorated with amber was discovered near Petrozavodsk

26 August 2021

26 August 2021

According to a press release from the Petrozavodsk State University a unique tomb was discovered on the western shore of...

2000-year-old Ancient Greek ‘graduate school yearbook’ carved in stone found

5 June 2022

5 June 2022

Historians have discovered that an ancient Greek inscription on a marble slab in the collection of the National Museums of...

Excavations Near Stonehenge Uncover Bronze Age Barrow Cemetery

4 June 2023

4 June 2023

The Cotswold Archeology team excavating at the site of a planned housing development near Salisbury, England, has unearthed a giant...

A well-preserved comb discovered in a 4th-century rare Alemannic chamber grave in Germany

4 September 2024

4 September 2024

During a rescue excavation in the center of the village of Gerstetten, located in the Heidenheim district of southwestern Germany,...

Will new Technology be able to Solve the Mystery in Masovia?

14 May 2021

14 May 2021

Although there are about 500 medieval tombs found in today’s Masovia and Podlasie cities, the question of who these tombs...

Evidence of Brain Surgery performed 3,000 years ago discovered in the ancient city of Tel Megiddo

27 February 2023

27 February 2023

Researchers have discovered a rare instance of delicate cranial surgery, possibly the earliest of its kind in the Middle East,...

The 8,000-year-old Aslantepe in Turkey has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

26 July 2021

26 July 2021

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Monday that a rich, 30-meter-high archaeological mound going back 8,000 years in southern Turkey has...