ancient world. She has published extensively on the history and archaeology of medicine, impairment, and disability in the ancient world, including the monographs Roman Domestic Medical Practice in Central Italy from the Middle Republic to the Early Empire (2019) and Approaches to Healing in Roman Egypt (2012), and the edited volumes Prostheses in Antiquity (2019) and Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future (2017).
She applied the "Page 99 Test" to her new book, Prosthetics and Assistive Technology in Ancient Greece and Rome, and reported the following:
On page 99 of Prosthetics and Assistive Technology in Ancient Greece and Rome, you’ll find the concluding section and the start of the conclusion of the second chapter, ‘Facial Prostheses’, which examines the literary, archaeological, and bioarchaeological evidence for prosthetic eyes, noses, and teeth. It details the archaeological evidence for ancient ‘false’ teeth, mentioning examples made from gold, silver, bronze, and even real teeth (perhaps the wearer’s own). It’s probably not the most representative page of the book because it’s so particular, but reading it will give you an indication of both the specific argument of this chapter (in antiquity people used a variety of facial prostheses, for a variety of reasons) and the more general argument of the book as a whole (in antiquity people used a variety of prosthetic devices and assistive technology, for a variety of reasons). It does make the point, I feel, that ancient people who used prostheses were individuals, their prosthetics were highly individualized, and their experiences are fascinating for the insights they provide into impairment and disability in antiquity.Follow Jane Draycott on Twitter.
--Marshal Zeringue
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