"We believe this woman was a kind of cast-off after death. She was buried face-down, suggesting a discriminatory attitude," study co-author Qian Wang, a biological anthropologist at Texas A&M University, told Live Science in an email. "Her burial, alone, in a place without her family or community, could be a decision of disapproval."
But because the original excavation was a rapid salvage dig ahead of construction, the unique skull was not recognized as a possible case of nasal amputation until study first author Yawei Zhou, an archaeologist at Zhengzhou University, analyzed the skeletons from the cemetery in 2024.
Several bones inside the nose show signs of healing, indicating that the woman lived for several years after the punishment occurred. (Image credit: Qian Wang, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry)Although they could not completely rule out the possibility that this woman's facial disfigurement was the result of a disease or a birth defect, the researchers concluded that the most likely explanation, particularly in light of her unusual face-down burial position, was a case of nasal amputation as punishment for a crime.
Archaeologists know about punitive nasal amputation because it was first recorded in ancient Chinese oracle bone inscriptions. In the Shang dynasty (1600 to 1046 B.C.), the punishment was depicted in Chinese characters as a knife on the left or right side of the nose, the researchers wrote in the study.
Examples of the Chinese character for nasal amputation, which includes a knife on the left or right side of the nose. (Image credit: Qian Wang, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry)RELATED STORIES
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Given this case study, Berger said, "researchers can look for other cases, and hopefully more evidence can be found of who was subjected to this punishment, how it was carried out, and how it was medically managed afterwards, including the use of prosthetics."
The unusual skull from the Sanzhiyuan cemetery was assessed within the framework of the Global History of Health Project's Asia Module, which Wang leads. "Many more skeletons will be screened in the future for diseases and trauma," Wang said. "Hopefully there will be similar cases to be found in the future in a clearer archaeological context."
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