Can you guess the function of this hollow glass vessel that was found in James Fort's first well (c. 1609-1611)? Hint: This artifact served a very specific purpose at Jamestown that is still practiced by many today, just as it has for over 3,000 years.

Answer: This is a cupping glass that was used by the colony’s surgeon to treat conditions such as abscesses, sciatica, muscle pain, and "withering or benumbed" extremities. The glass was heated by the flame of a candle and then placed on the patient's skin over the afflicted area. As the glass cooled, a vacuum was created that pulled skin into the cup and drew blood to the surface. In wet cupping, small incisions were made in the skin and the cups were set over them to draw blood, and any "poisonous humors," out of the body. London surgeon John Woodall, who sent a surgeon's chest to Jamestown in 1609, instructed in his 1617 book The Surgions Mate, that "you must have your Cups fit and not too wide for the place you would set them on, or else they will not take any hold. Large and wide Cupps are fittest on the thighs, lesser on the armes, and the least for the hands or feete." Cupping is still used today by acupuncture practitioners.