A Face from the 1200s
In a private collection, a preserved human head and shoulders stunned researchers. The skull was cut open, the brain removed, and the arteries filled with a red mixture of beeswax, lime, and cinnabar mercury. Radiocarbon dating revealed the specimen dated to A.D. 1200–1280.
Dissection Before the Renaissance
This places the preparation centuries earlier than expected, during a period long believed to be hostile to scientific study. But evidence shows that dissections, including those ordered by the church, did occur. In 1286, one physician even performed autopsies during an epidemic.
Misread Edicts and Misplaced Myths
Historians once thought the church banned human dissection in the Middle Ages. A 1299 papal decree forbidding the boiling of Crusaders’ bones was misinterpreted centuries later as a ban. In truth, autopsies were sometimes performed to identify disease or examine the devout.
The Unknown Man, Preserved in Wax
The dissected man’s identity remains unknown. He may have been a prisoner, pauper, or patient. His veins were treated to preserve their structure—an advanced technique. His remains, the oldest known anatomical preparation in Europe, will soon be displayed in Paris.
A preserved human head and shoulders, dissected in detail and filled with red-tinted wax, was found in a private collection.
Radiocarbon dating placed it between A.D. 1200 and 1280—far earlier than expected, and evidence that human dissection existed in medieval Europe…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/3n6exMWUPW
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) April 14, 2025