Sometimes a hole in the head is worth something.
Ancient surgeons clearly thought so. Seven thousand years ago, they cut two holes in a man’s skull in a process known as trepanning. And the man survived, archeologists reported recently.
The evidence lies in a skeleton discovered last year in the Alsace region of France. Researchers led by Kurt Alt of Freiburg University in Germany found two circular holes in the skull that were partially healed over, indicating that the patient was not killed by the operation. The size and shape of the holes mean that they were deliberately created during surgery, not from skull fracture, infection or animal attack, the scientists wrote recently in Nature. The discovery is the earliest known example of trepanning.
Trepanning in other cultures is often attributed to trying to heal a physical injury to the skull or a head disorder such as headaches, epilepsy or mental illness.
“The case we describe is exceptional for several reasons,” the scientists wrote. “It appears to be the oldest healed neurosurgical operation known worldwide; its technical realization testifies to the high craftsmanship and well-founded anatomical knowledge of the surgeon; and the success of the unusual trepanations is established by the long survival of the `patient.’ “
