Les bandages herniaires modernes : apports d’un nouvel exemple provenant du cimetière paroissial de Gradignan (Gironde)

• Published in: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris Vol. 35; no. 1
• Main Authors: Bouffiès, Camille, Réveillas, Hélène, Balboa-Pont, Alejandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 01.02.2023
• Subjects: hernia truss; inguinal hernia; medical device; modern period; parish cemetery
• DOI: 10.4000/bmsap.11636
• ISSN: 0037-8984

A hernia truss dating from the 17th to the first half of the 19th century, discovered inside a grave in the parish cemetery of Gradignan (Gironde, SW France), adds to the small corpus of similar modern archaeological examples of this type of medical device uncovered in France to date. The deceased was wearing the hernia truss around his pelvis, which indicates that he was suffering from an inguinal hernia. This pathology was probably very common among past populations, and could have had a significant impact on the lives of the individuals affected, as it would have caused discomfort in undertaking physical activities and even death in the event of complications. Inguinal hernia leaves no bony traces and cannot be demonstrated by palaeopathological examination of the skeleton. However, historical, iconographical and archaeological sources show that from Antiquity until the 17th century, hernias were treated by the use of trusses to keep the protruding tissue in place, although this was often ineffective, or by empirical surgery that generally led to the death of the subject. It was not until the second half of the 17th century that really effective hernia trusses were developed, as shown by the Gradignan case and the few examples known to date in France. The increasing number of archaeological examples of hernia trusses from the 17th century onwards, in a variety of funerary contexts, testifies to the advancement of medical knowledge in the late modern period. However, their rarity in relation to the high prevalence of hernias in today’s populations raises the question of the social status of the individuals fitted with this type of device and its accessibility to the general population.