When you dig through the ancient ruins, you probably expect to find a few artifacts or rubble left behind by people who lived and worked there long ago. But the archaeological site revealed something you wouldn’t expect if you didn’t know the history of the place. At the site of the former Caesar’s Forum in Rome, built by Julius Caesar, researchers found a buried medical waste pit dating back to the Renaissance period in the 16th century AD. It was founded in 1564 in the nearby Piazza Madonna di Loreto.
Artifacts included medical equipment (such as glass jars for collecting urine), ceramic medicine containers, and ceramic figurines that were probably personal items.
A research team led by archaeologist Christina Boschetti of Aarhus University in Denmark believes the landfill may have been used to dump potentially infectious objects to stop the spread of epidemics. It is possible that this pit sheds light on the disposal of Renaissance medical waste as a means of combating diseases in a densely populated city.
“Determining medical waste sites in an archaeological context can be challenging as it requires an integrated approach that combines excavation data with material studies and detailed functional context analysis,” the researchers write.
“Here we present one such medical dump that was excavated at the site of Caesar’s Forum in 2021.”
The site was excavated in 2021, during which time the team found a kind of brick-lined chamber about 2.8 meters deep, the contents of which were hidden by a layer of compacted clay. Researches revealed that the cistern was dated to the 16th century AD and was not used before or after the objects in it were placed there.
The team believes this is a one-time loophole.
The team discovered a really interesting collection of objects under the clay: fragments of broken glass and pottery; small, all-ceramic pots of high quality; and personal items such as terracotta figurines, religious medals, spinning spindle whorls, and possibly a bead from a rosary.
There were also some lead clamps and some charred (burnt) wood commonly used in furniture hardware. This collection of objects so haphazardly thrown away and closed with a clay cap could have created a bigger mystery, but they did have a remarkably similar collection of objects.
In 2009, archaeologists excavated what they believe was a medical waste disposal site associated with a hospital in the early 17th century BC. e.Boschetti and his colleagues carefully examined the fragments removed from the cistern and counted about 1,200 pieces of glass. The researchers determined that most of these were probably urine bottles known as matulas in medieval Latin sources.
“During the Middle Ages, visual inspection of urine – urinoscopy – became a central diagnostic tool in medical practice and remained so until the eighteenth century,” the researchers write. “The patient’s urine is poured into a bottle so that the doctor can see its color, sediment, smell, and sometimes even taste.”
They are rarely found in home settings, but numerous have been found associated with medical facilities, such as other garbage pits associated with Ospedale de Fornari. Other items included pottery for meal preparation and consumption. Each patient received his “set” of such things upon admission to the hospital.
Putting together the clues, the researchers believe they point to decontamination procedures. Burnt wood complies with 17th-century hospital protocols that encouraged the burning and disposal of furniture, bedding, dishes, and other items that came into contact with patients with infectious diseases such as the plague.
What appears to have been deliberately sealing the cistern with clay also supports this interpretation: the person who dropped the objects wished for absolute abstinence. The discovery shows that more attention needs to be paid to how our ancestors struggled to contain the disease, especially in major urban centers like Rome.
“Prior to this study, early modern disposal of waste from hospitals and medical facilities to prevent the spread of disease has received only occasional archaeological interest with limited cross-context research,” the researchers wrote.
“In conclusion, the evidence presented here greatly contributes to our understanding of Renaissance waste disposal practices and highlights the need for a more comprehensive review of hygiene and disease control regimes in early modern Europe.” Study published ancient ages.
Source: Port Altele
