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During a recent dig at a cemetery in southeastern England, researchers unearthed an unusual object from an otherwise ordinary grave. The artifact, resembling a cross between a soccer ball and a rugby ball—rounded on one end and narrowing on the other—had a bone-like smoothness. It was found near the pelvic area of an elderly woman’s skeleton, buried in a shroud over two centuries ago.
“At first glance, one might assume the skull had somehow shifted into the pelvic region,” explained Carolyn Rando, a forensic anthropologist at University College London. However, the object was solid and weighed over seven pounds, making it unusually dense. After thorough examination, Rando and her team concluded it was a calcified uterus, the largest ever documented in archaeological history.
"This is a truly unique discovery, something neither I nor my colleagues have ever encountered, and it filled us with immense excitement,” Rando shared with mental_floss. “It stands as one of the most substantial masses ever uncovered in an archaeological context."
This massive calcified mass was discovered at St. Michael’s Litten, a burial ground in Chichester that served from the Middle Ages until the mid-1800s. The site remained concealed beneath a parking lot until 2011, when excavations revealed nearly 2000 bodies.
The uterus belonged to a woman aged over 50, who had lost all her teeth and developed osteoporosis by the time of her death, likely between the 17th and 19th centuries. (Exact dates for most graves at this cemetery remain unclear.) The growth likely originated as leiomyomas, or uterine fibroids—benign tumors affecting up to 40% of women of reproductive age. While most fibroids remain soft, some grow large enough to cut off their blood supply, leading to calcification.
Image provided by G. Cole, C. Rando, L. Sibun, and T. Waldron; UCL Institute of Archaeology
Rando and her team reached this conclusion after performing CT scans on the mass and cutting it open to examine its internal structure. In their case report, published in the September edition of the International Journal of Paleopathology, they eliminated numerous other conditions, including the possibility of a lithopedion—a calcified fetus that forms outside the uterus. (This rare condition made headlines in June when a 50-year-old stone baby was discovered inside an elderly woman in Chile.)
The exact impact of this growth on the woman’s life or its role in her death remains uncertain.
“She must have been aware of her condition,” Rando remarked. “It’s likely she experienced difficulties with basic bodily functions. Carrying such a mass would have been akin to bearing a full-term baby indefinitely, making her life far from comfortable. However, she lived a long life, and since this growth would have developed gradually, it’s possible it didn’t cause her significant distress.”
In archaeological medical cases like this, finding modern parallels is challenging, as most women today would have leiomyomas removed early on, Rando explained. While researching historical medical records, Rando and her team discovered a relevant case from 1840. A 72-year-old woman sought treatment for severe abdominal pain after a fall. She had a hard abdominal mass, which she claimed had been present for over 30 years without issue. Shortly after her examination, she passed away. An autopsy revealed a marble-hard tumor, similar in size and shape to a five-month pregnant uterus. The fall had caused the growth to puncture her bowel, leading to her death.
