THE KINDER AND GENTLER WORLD BEFORE EUROPEAN COLONIALISM: 700-year-old skull in China is first evidence of punitive nose amputation. “Researchers say a roughly 700-year-old skull from China could mark the first archaeological case anywhere of nose amputation used as punishment, and signs on the bones suggest the woman lived through it. If that interpretation is correct, the find would offer physical confirmation of a harsh penalty long described in ancient Chinese writings but not previously identified in human remains.”