The metallurgy of Roman medical instruments

A metallographic study was conducted to characterize the composition and manufacturing techniques of two Roman medical instruments. The instruments, one, the typical form of an ear speculum or “scoop”, and the other, a spatula, are part of a set of nine Roman medical instruments. The exact provenance of the instruments is unclear, but they are stylistically similar to Roman medical instruments dating from the 2nd to 4th century AD. The present results are compared with the findings from a previous examination of one Roman medical olivary probe. This analysis illustrates the variety of manufacturing techniques that ancient Roman metallurgists implemented in medical instrument fabrication.