https://www.sciencealert.com/ming-dynasty-surgeons-used-poison-as-an-anesthetic-ancient-tools-reveal
(Ling et al., Antiquity, 2026)
Traces of red material crusted on ancient surgical tools may not be a record of pain, but rather the absence thereof.
Metal scissors and tweezers recovered from a Ming Dynasty tomb in Jiangyin County, China, retain what scientists believe may be the earliest direct chemical evidence of surgical anesthesia – a substance used for painless medical treatment.
It's the first discovery of its kind and highlights the sophisticated medicine of the Ming Dynasty.
The kicker? That substance appears to be aconitine, a highly toxic compound derived from the group of plants that includes wolfsbane.
Its presence on the tools of a revered surgeon – Xia Quan, who lived around 1348 to 1411 and in whose tomb the tools were found in 1974 – implies a very high level of skill and precision.
Traces of red material crusted on ancient surgical tools may not be a record of pain, but rather the absence thereof.
Metal scissors and tweezers recovered from a Ming Dynasty tomb in Jiangyin County, China, retain what scientists believe may be the earliest direct chemical evidence of surgical anesthesia – a substance used for painless medical treatment.
It's the first discovery of its kind and highlights the sophisticated medicine of the Ming Dynasty.
The kicker? That substance appears to be aconitine, a highly toxic compound derived from the group of plants that includes wolfsbane.
Its presence on the tools of a revered surgeon – Xia Quan, who lived around 1348 to 1411 and in whose tomb the tools were found in 1974 – implies a very high level of skill and precision.
(Ling et al., Antiquity, 2026)
"Six centuries ago, a Ming Dynasty surgeon performed an operation with a pair of iron scissors and tweezers, and today we have read the traces of anesthetic medicine left on those instruments using a beam of laser light," says Congcang Zhao of Northwest University in China.
"This is the first time humanity has found direct chemical evidence of anesthetics on ancient surgical tools, proving that our ancestors already knew how to safely alleviate patients' pain with highly toxic herbs."
Throughout history, humans have used some pretty strange substances as medicaments, but some evidence suggests that, at least in some cases, our ancestors' understanding of pharmacology was actually rather sophisticated.
"Six centuries ago, a Ming Dynasty surgeon performed an operation with a pair of iron scissors and tweezers, and today we have read the traces of anesthetic medicine left on those instruments using a beam of laser light," says Congcang Zhao of Northwest University in China.
"This is the first time humanity has found direct chemical evidence of anesthetics on ancient surgical tools, proving that our ancestors already knew how to safely alleviate patients' pain with highly toxic herbs."
Throughout history, humans have used some pretty strange substances as medicaments, but some evidence suggests that, at least in some cases, our ancestors' understanding of pharmacology was actually rather sophisticated.
The tomb was excavated in the 1970s, and its artifacts are now at Jiangyin Museum.
(Ling et al., Antiquity, 2026)
There's also a surprising amount of physical evidence of successful, skilful surgeries from around the world, dating back thousands of years.
Ancient Chinese texts record the extensive use of pharmaceutical substances, often with detailed documentation of their ingredients, but physical traces of those substances are rarely preserved well enough to sample and study.
This brings us to Xia Quan, whose grave goods included a relatively large suite of tools of the surgical trade.
Fifty years ago, when the rusty tools were discovered, researchers lacked the techniques to determine what residues, if any, still clung to their iron surfaces.
Now, however, researchers have access to tools that can analyze even the most minuscule samples.
"Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopic imaging is an advanced optical technique that can be used to accurately identify material compositions and map component distribution," Zhao says, "effectively overcoming the key challenges in residue research of minimal sample availability and the need to preserve archaeological material."
(Ling et al., Antiquity, 2026)
The scissors and tweezers, housed in the Jiangyin Museum, were ideal candidates for the analysis because both contained difficult-to-clean crevices where residues could persist, particularly near the handles, where residue may have been protected from later contamination and cleaning.
Because the museum has a strict policy against removing artifacts from the premises, the researchers used a portable instrument to take measurements of these spots, with stunning results.
Three tiny, reddish particles – one from the tweezers and two from the scissors – were consistent with aconitine, likely extracted from Aconitum carmichaelii, or Chinese wolfsbane, a flowering plant that has long been used as a poison.
The scissors and tweezers, housed in the Jiangyin Museum, were ideal candidates for the analysis because both contained difficult-to-clean crevices where residues could persist, particularly near the handles, where residue may have been protected from later contamination and cleaning.
Because the museum has a strict policy against removing artifacts from the premises, the researchers used a portable instrument to take measurements of these spots, with stunning results.
Three tiny, reddish particles – one from the tweezers and two from the scissors – were consistent with aconitine, likely extracted from Aconitum carmichaelii, or Chinese wolfsbane, a flowering plant that has long been used as a poison.
According to contemporaneous texts, medical practitioners employed several techniques to mitigate the drug's toxicity, including treatment with urine from young boys, boiling in vinegar, and soaking in a black soybean decoction.
After those precautionary measures, the prepared aconitine powder would likely have been applied to the patient's skin to numb the area before attempting a painful procedure.
The discovery of the substance on surgical tools matches neatly with the textual record, showing that Ming Dynasty practitioners had a sophisticated understanding of how to safely prepare and administer toxic compounds to aid treatment.
"Combined with records of anesthetic prescriptions in Ming Dynasty medical texts, the study confirms that Aconitum was employed as a topical anesthetic, safely and precisely applied during surgical procedures," Zhao explains.
"Ming physicians used iron surgical instruments and controlled the toxicity of aconitine through topical application, compound prescriptions, and strict procedural controls, demonstrating a practical ability to balance drug potency with patient safety."
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