10 ancient artifacts that evoke mixed feelings (11 photos)

People are always interested in historical finds, and archaeologists around the world make new discoveries every day. The artifacts you will see in this post have great historical value, but they evoke mixed feelings, and some are even a little scary. Take a look!





1. Bread from ancient Pompeii



Archaeologists found this fossilized bread in the ruins of one of the 33 bakeries opened in Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago. The bread was baked in 79, on the day of the destruction of the great city.

2. Japanese pregnant doll, early 19th century



This doll is not at all an analogue of a pregnant Barbie, but just a model for visual training of midwives. The kit includes the doll itself, a glued-on tummy with painted stretch marks, and several interchangeable fruits at different stages of development. In addition, the dolls were used as an attraction designed to reveal some of the secrets of human life to the educated public.

3. Map of a woman’s heart, 18th century



Perhaps the most romantic map of the world was invented and drawn by lithographer Daniel Wright Kellogg under the pseudonym Lady. He had a typical opinion about women of that time: in the center of the map was love, below it - selfishness and sentimentality, and at the top - coquetry and love of dresses.

4. Small coffins from Arthur's Cave



17 small coffins were found in a cave near Edinburgh on Arthur's Throne Hill in 1836. All had movable lids, and inside each was a wooden doll dressed in men's clothing. Experts put forward 2 theories. According to the first, the coffins were used in voodoo rituals. But a second, more popular theory suggests that the coffins are some sort of victim count for a serial killer. To date, it has only been established that the coffins were made at different times between 1812 and 1820, but the mystery of their origin has not yet been solved.

5. Mechanical leech



This device is not a medieval torture device, as it might seem at first glance. It was invented in 1840 to reduce the use of live leeches. The mechanical leech cut the surface tissue with rotating blades and sucked blood using the vacuum created in the cylinder.

6. Tiger Tipu, 18th century



The famous toy is a tiger tearing apart a British soldier. The figures are almost life-size, and the mechanisms inside the wooden cases imitate the sounds of human screams and tiger growls. The toy was made for the Indian ruler Tipu Sultan, who hated the British with all his heart.

7. Bottle for tears



Invented in ancient Rome, tear bottles have remained popular for centuries. An elongated glass with a narrow neck was intended to collect tears in the corner of the eye. In such bottles, women mourned their deceased relatives or husbands who had gone to war. After the latter returned, the wives showed bottles full of tears as proof of their love.

8. Dentures



Prosthetics were invented before our era. For example, the first photo shows an ancient Egyptian prosthetic big toe, while the second image shows a bronze prosthetic made in the 1890s.

9. Chinese medical dolls, 17th century



For several centuries, Chinese doctors, who could only be male, were prohibited from touching their high-ranking patients. Therefore, special ivory dolls were used for diagnosis. With the help of these figures, women showed what and where they hurt.

10. Safes for the dead, XVIII - XIX centuries



It may seem that iron coffins have been createdto prevent the dead from rising from their graves, but the reason for their popularity in Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries had nothing to do with superstitious citizens. They began to be made to protect the dead from body snatchers who illegally stole bodies and sold them to doctors for dissection and anatomy lectures.