The prosthetic allowed her jaw to move again, but probably with a lot of pain, the researchers noted. Needless to say, that likely curtailed the woman’s contributions to her community, which arguably made her a burden in the already harsh conditions the Pazyryk had to weather. Yet, the archaeological record clearly demonstrates she was properly treated and later buried in a proper coffin of wood—a valuable resource for the region.
“We don’t know what her personal value to society consisted of,” Polosmak mused. “In this society, everyone was valued in life simply for their existence and honored after death."
Hard to imagine a society where life was so respected, all available resources were generously provided in an attempt to restore somebody’s health, regardless of what they could do in return for those resources. Must have been nice.
I kind of hate most media’s use of the word “primitive” - particularly when it comes to our ancestors. It’s like, okay reporter let’s see YOU try and repair someone’s shattered jaw with stuff you find in the forest. Let’s see you try and build a fish trap so that you can feed yourself and your family. Let’s see anyone eke out a living harvesting plants that may or may not kill you.
Nothing about what any of our ancestors did was primitive. What they did to survive was incredibly sophisticated and separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom that can barely operate beyond eating and fucking. The use of “primitive” gives an air of superiority from someone whose greatest challenge in life is deciding on their latest Uber delivery food order while they lay on the couch scratching their ass.
I think you’re misunderstanding a bit: What they did was primitive compared to what we do today, and the comparison is fair since what they did was the foundation for what we do today.
Much like we could call a vacuum tube computer that filled a room in the 50’s a “primitive computer”. It’s not downplaying the fact that that computer was (and is) an absolute feat of science and engineering that very few people alive could replicate. It’s bringing focus to the fact that, despite being comparatively simple relative to a modern phone, it’s what made development of modern computers possible. It’s quite literally a “primitive computer”.
In the same way, this procedure was an early predecessor to modern surgery, so it’s quite literally “primitive surgery”.
Have you read the article? It’s not in any way dismissive or demeaning on the skills and abilities of our ancestors. Quite the opposite really.
The definition of primitive is literally an early rendition/version of something. It doesn’t mean “unsophisticated.”
If you’re interpreting ‘primitive’ as ‘unsophisticated,’ that’s a you problem, and it makes no sense to criticize others for using the term properly just because you don’t understand it.
You forgot the Trump slam.
Way ahead of their time medically.
While mega impressive I can only think about the pain the woman went through for this procedure. Ouch.
