The story of this ancient patient begins in 1994, when archaeologists excavated a burial ground on the remote Ukok Plateau in the Altai Mountains. Preserved in the permafrost, the remains belonged to a woman estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old at the time of her death. Like other elite members of the Pazyryk culture, she was found lying on a wooden bed, adorned with a typical wig.
However, the condition of her remains initially hindered further investigation. A mummified patch of skin adhered tightly to the skull, making traditional anthropological research impossible without causing damage. For decades, the true nature of her injuries remained hidden. It was only recently, by utilizing modern CT scanning technology to digitally remove the soft tissue, that researchers from Novosibirsk State University made their gruesome yet astonishing discovery.
Archive photo of the face of the mummy in an earlier publication. (NSU)
The World’s Oldest Jaw Surgery?
The scans revealed that the woman had suffered a catastrophic head injury that destroyed her right jaw joint. The trauma tore ligaments and threw her jaw out of alignment, an injury that would have prevented her from speaking or eating. In the harsh environment of ancient Siberia, such an injury would almost certainly have been a death sentence, leading to starvation or fatal infection.
According to Dr. Andrey Letyagin, a Russian radiologist involved in the study, ancient medics intervened with a remarkable surgical procedure. Astonishing images show where two tiny canals, each just 1.5 millimeters in diameter, had been precisely drilled into the bones comprising the injured joint. These holes intersected at a right angle, allowing the ancient surgeons to thread an elastic material, likely horsehair or animal tendon, through the bone.
This material acted as a surgical ligature, effectively creating a primitive prosthetic that held the articular surfaces together. "This primitive prosthetic held the articular surfaces together and allowed the patient to move her jaw," Dr. Letyagin explained in the university press release. While she likely still experienced severe pain and could not chew on the injured side, the joint functioned well enough to save her life.
Crucially, the CT scans also showed that new bone had grown around the drilled holes, forming a thick ring of tissue. This confirms that the patient was not only alive during the harrowing procedure but survived for months, or perhaps even years, after the operation.
The area of the jaw where the evidence of surgery was found. (NSU)
Advanced Medicine Among the Nomads
The Pazyryk people are often remembered for their fierce, horse-riding warriors and elaborate burial mounds (kurgans), which have yielded spectacular artifacts, including the famous 2,500-Year-Old Tattooed Ice Princess. Yet, this new evidence suggests they possessed medical knowledge far more advanced than previously believed.
The injury itself was likely sustained from a fall while riding, a common hazard in a cavalry-based culture. The ability to not only diagnose the mechanical failure of the jaw but to devise and execute a surgical solution using a primitive drill and natural ligatures is an impressive achievement.
This discovery aligns with other evidence of ancient surgical practices in the region. Prior scholarship has shown that these pastoral peoples practiced trephination, the oldest documented surgical procedure involving drilling holes into the skull. A new study reveals that trepanation surgery in ancient Siberia demonstrated that ancient doctors performed these surgeries with remarkable precision to minimize brain damage.
Furthermore, the Pazyryk culture's understanding of medicinal plants is well documented. Researchers have previously asked, Did ancient Siberian princesses use cannabis to cope with breast cancer? after finding pouches of the plant buried with the famous Ice Maiden. The woman who underwent this agonizing jaw surgery was probably given similar natural analgesics to manage her severe pain.
Rewriting Nomadic History
Even if this single skull does not rewrite the entirety of human medical history, it provides a crucial data point in the ongoing reassessment of ancient nomadic cultures. The image of the Pazyryk as mere marauders is increasingly being replaced by a picture of a complex society capable of intricate art, deep spiritual beliefs, and astonishing medical interventions. As explored in Rethinking Stereotypes: Were Scythian Warriors Really Nomadic?, the broader Scythian world to which the Pazyryk belonged was far more nuanced than classical sources suggest, a culture of farmers, craftspeople, and, clearly, skilled surgeons.
As technology like CT scanning continues to unlock the secrets held within ancient remains, we are forced to continually re-evaluate the ingenuity of our ancestors. For a young woman on the Ukok Plateau 2,500 years ago, that ingenuity meant the difference between life and death.
Top image: An Xray of the jaw that was taken during the study. Source: NSU
