In the ancient world if you were worried about your health you might travel to a religious temple of a healing deity to seek treatment. The God-hero Asclepius had at least 700 structures dedicated to him alone. The Ancients ascribed healing to the effects of prayer, supernatural rituals, or medicine — often these treatments were undifferentiated.

Archaeologists have unearthed many more dedications (written prayers with thanks or requests) to Asclepius from women than men. One reason for this might have been the fact that pregnancy was so dangerous then compared to now.

What you see here are two examples of terracotta wombs found in a sanctuary at the Italian Ancient Etruscan town of Tarquinia, where over 400 such objects have been discovered. They are each about eight inches, and most have a tiny model of a fetus inside, as the radiographic image on the bottom shows.