2023-11-15 05:00:09
Deep in the past, a Copper Age woman underwent not one, but two cranial surgeries, her skeleton reveals. This exceptional discovery, made by Spanish scientists, comes to us from the funerary site of Camino del Molino, in Caravaca de la Cruz, in the southeast of Spain. The study, published in the International Journal of Paleopathology, describes the woman, aged between 35 and 45 at her death, as one of 1,348 people buried at the site, used between 2566 and 2239 BCE. .
The skeleton of the Copper Age woman as observed at the burial site.
Credit: Sonia DĂaz-Navarro et al
The researchers, led by Sonia DĂaz-Navarro, postdoctoral researcher in prehistory at the University of Valladolid, discovered two superimposed orifices between the temple and the top of her ear (The ear is the organ used to capture sound and is therefore the seat of the meaning of…). These holes, produced by trepanations (drilling or scraping of the skull to expose the dura mater), demonstrate two distinct surgical interventions, recognizable by their well-defined edges and the absence of radiating fractures, suggesting a non-traumatic origin.
The technique used, scraping, consisted of rubbing a lithic instrument once morest the cranial vault, gradually eroding its edges to create the orifice. To perform this operation, the patient had to be heavily immobilized or pretreated with a psychoactive substance to alleviate pain or induce unconsciousness.
A Copper Age woman who underwent two surgeries, leaving two holes in her skull.
Credit: Sonia DĂaz-Navarro et al
What is remarkable is that the woman appears to have survived both operations, as evidenced by the scarred bone in her skull, suggesting a survival of several months following the second (Second is the feminine of the adjective second, which comes immediately following the first or which…) surgery (Surgery is a medical technique consisting of a physical intervention on the…). Although the exact reason for these interventions remains uncertain, the high prevalence of traumatic injuries among the skeletons from the Camino del Molino site does not rule out the possibility of intervention following trauma (Trauma is damage to the body). structure or functioning of the body or psyche. It…).
Documentation of prehistoric surgical procedures is rare, especially in the temporal region of the head. The risks associated with operating in this area, which contains many blood vessels and muscles, were high. Nevertheless, scraping trephinations were generally safer and more successful than drilling, often avoiding damage to the meninges or brain, thereby reducing the risk of postoperative infections.
This discovery not only enriches our understanding of Copper Age medical practices, but also raises questions regarding the motivations and medical knowledge of this distant era.
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