Can You Say "Ouch?"

Feel fortunate that the on-line version of the paper doesn't include photos. The original print article did.

Q: How was severe constipation treated in early 17th-century Virginia?

A: One method called for using a foot-long iron tool called a "spatula mundani."

"Mundani" derives from the word "mundify," which means "to make clean," says a Web site run by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

The tool's spoon end was used for the actual medical procedure. The spatula end was probably used for stirring or applying ointments.

Archaeologists found a spatula mundani at Jamestown. Records say it was shipped there with other medical tools in 1609.