or Bakers’ Hospital. According to the authors, the waste dump was then created by the hospital’s workers.rosary beads, broken glass jars, coins, a ceramic camel, and a Renaissance-era cistern full of ceramic vessels. The team of researchers from institutions in Italy and Denmark believes that the objects were likely related to patient care in the hospital. Each patient at the hospital may have been given a basket with a bowl, drinking glass, jug, and a plate for hygiene purposes.
Glass urine flasks excavated from the cistern. CREDIT: Sovrintendenza Capitolina, The Caesar’s Forum Project. The glass urine flasks are called “matula” in medieval Latin medical texts and were likely used for the practice of uroscopy. This was a diagnostic tool for physicians during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Urine was also onceThe authors believe that doctors would use the flasks to observe urine’s sedimentation, smell, color, and even taste. This would help the physicians diagnose ailments like kidney disease, jaundice, and diabetes.