ross_cowan_
Etruscan anatomical model
Etruscan terracotta votive uterus, 4th-3rd cents BC. In the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, UK.
"Solid model uterus on rectangular backing. Oval organ covered with wavering horizontal ridges to represent second-stage labour contractions. At lower end, under a thick ridge, are represented a sectioned cervix and two small truncated tubes. Mould made, the cervical area finished by hand.Although stylised in a typical manner the model undoubtedly represents a surgeon's-eye view of a uterus removed post mortem, in a partial hysterectomy. The large central opening indicates the cervix, the two swollen tubes the ureters, and the overlying ridge perhaps part of the bladder, all sectioned on the same plane. The condition represented by muscular contractions and swollen ureters is consistent with pregnancy. The removal of the organs in the original operation, after which the terracotta (or its prototype) was modelled, indicates some type of post mortem. Pathology of other organs is seldom represented in Etruscan, Greek or Roman votives, but the interpretation of the votive uteri may have to be re-evaluated. Ureters are not present in other models, but fibroids do occur, as well as representations of a double cervix." Turfa & Pallottino, 'The Etruscan and Italic Collection in the Manchester Museum', Papers of the British School at Rome 50 (1982), 166-195 (www.jstor.org/stable/40310787)
For another view, see www.flickr.com/photos/themanchestermuseum/8002932766/
Etruscan anatomical model
Etruscan terracotta votive uterus, 4th-3rd cents BC. In the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, UK.
"Solid model uterus on rectangular backing. Oval organ covered with wavering horizontal ridges to represent second-stage labour contractions. At lower end, under a thick ridge, are represented a sectioned cervix and two small truncated tubes. Mould made, the cervical area finished by hand.Although stylised in a typical manner the model undoubtedly represents a surgeon's-eye view of a uterus removed post mortem, in a partial hysterectomy. The large central opening indicates the cervix, the two swollen tubes the ureters, and the overlying ridge perhaps part of the bladder, all sectioned on the same plane. The condition represented by muscular contractions and swollen ureters is consistent with pregnancy. The removal of the organs in the original operation, after which the terracotta (or its prototype) was modelled, indicates some type of post mortem. Pathology of other organs is seldom represented in Etruscan, Greek or Roman votives, but the interpretation of the votive uteri may have to be re-evaluated. Ureters are not present in other models, but fibroids do occur, as well as representations of a double cervix." Turfa & Pallottino, 'The Etruscan and Italic Collection in the Manchester Museum', Papers of the British School at Rome 50 (1982), 166-195 (www.jstor.org/stable/40310787)
For another view, see www.flickr.com/photos/themanchestermuseum/8002932766/