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Instruments

Actual instruments
Replicas
Left to right: two iron scalpels, iron saw, copper-alloy double hook, iron double hook, copper-alloy double sharp hook (unknown function), copper-alloy smooth-jawed forceps, iron forceps, three iron handled needles, copper-alloy spoon-probe, incomplete instrument (not replicated). (Images copyright Colchester Archaeological Trust.)

Excavations at Stanway finished in the summer of 1997. However, work during the previous winter had been very productive. It was suspected that some objects lying on the gaming board were medical, but it was not until they were lifted, cleaned, and x-rayed that positive identification was possible. This was a very exciting discovery, not only because medical kits are very rare in Britain (in fact there is only the one other example, and that is problematic), but also because the presence of the instruments suggests that the dead person had been a doctor. Eventually thirteen instruments were identified, including scalpels, hooks, needles, forceps, and a saw. A thirteenth instrument was too corroded to identify, but all the others were well preserved enough for the Trust to have replicas made of them. The instruments had been placed on the gaming board, next to the doctor's cremated remains which had likewise been placed on the board. All the instruments were intact, except for the saw which lay broken in five pieces.

In addition to these thirteen instruments, the kit is likely to have contained items made of organic materials which have not survived. The missing items would have included dressings and bandages, and instruments made of wood, reed, feathers, and textile.

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[Article on the surgical instruments]