Artificial eye of Shahr-e Sukhteh
Ojo artificial de Shahr-e Sukhteh
- Date
- c. 2800 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Shahr-e Sukhteh, Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran
- Credited to
- Shahr-e Sukhteh culture (Helmand)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Artificial eyeball of bitumen and animal fat, with an iris and capillaries drawn in gold, found in the eye socket of a buried woman. It is the oldest known ocular prosthesis and shows aesthetic and funerary care for the body.
Found in 2006 by the Iranian mission of S. M. S. Sajjadi; it is debated whether the woman wore it in life (there are marks on the socket suggesting this) or only as a burial good.
What it led to
- evidence of bodily prostheses in the Bronze Age
- knowledge of fine bitumen and gold craftsmanship in Sistan
Built on
- gold metallurgy
- use of bitumen