RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 29 May 2026 Traces on tweezers and surgical scissors suggest liquid medication was applied to the skin of patients. Surgical scissors from a Ming-era tomb bore traces of the toxic plant compound aconitine. Credit: Ling, X. et al. / Antiquity (CC BY 4.0) Anaesthetics are now part of every operating room, but physicians have been trying to reduce pain from surgery for centuries. Chemical traces on fifteenth-century surgical tools suggest that topical anaesthetics were used in China more than 600 years ago 1 . Access options Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any time Subscribe to this journal Receive 52 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.83 per issue Rent or buy this article Prices vary by article type from $1.95 to $39.95 Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Additional access options: Log in Learn about institutional…