Ancient Brain Surgery Techniques Tested By Scientists In Siberia

| January 30, 2015 | Archaeology News | No Comments

MessageToEagle.com – Experts undertake pioneering tests on skulls to finally understand how doctors carried out remarkable operations more than 2,300 years ago.

The holes in the skulls of ancient human remains discovered in the Altai Mountains, have been examined by neurosurgeon Aleksei Krivoshapkin and scientists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science.

General view of the tracks of the trepanation on the female scull from Kyzyl-Dzhar-IV (top) and male scull from Kyzyl-Dzar-5 (bottom). Pictures: Aleksei Krivoshapkin
General view of the tracks of the trepanation on the female scull from Kyzyl-Dzhar-IV (top) and male scull from Kyzyl-Dzar-5 (bottom). Pictures: Aleksei Krivoshapkin

The researchers concluded that brain surgery was performed 2,300 years ago with just one tool.

“Honestly, I am amazed. We suspect now that in the time of Hippocrates, Altai people could do a very fine diagnosis and carry out skillful trepanations and fantastic brain surgery,” Krivoshapkin told The Siberian Times.

The analysis showed that one of the patients, a man between 40 and 45 years old, had suffered a head trauma and developed a blood clot that probably resulted in headaches, nausea, and movement problems.

A replica of a bronze knife, made by Andrey Borodovsky (top). Examples of Tagar bronze knife stored in Minusinsky local history museum (bottom). Pictures: Andrey Borodovsky, Tatyana Chikisheva
A replica of a bronze knife, made by Andrey Borodovsky (top). Examples of Tagar bronze knife stored in Minusinsky local history museum (bottom). Pictures: Andrey Borodovsky, Tatyana Chikisheva

Healing in the bone showed that the hematoma had been removed and that the man lived for years after the surgery.

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The second skull belonged to a man who may have suffered from a congenital skull deformity that the surgeon fixed. In both cases, the holes in the skulls were small and placed to minimize damage to the patient.

Modern scull after the 'surgery' conducted by Alexei Krivoshapkin copying ancient techniques. Picture: Alexei Krivoshapkin
Modern scull after the ‘surgery’ conducted by Alexei Krivoshapkin copying ancient techniques. Picture: Alexei Krivoshapkin

“It is clearly seen that the ancient surgeons were very exact and confident in their moves, with no traces of unintentional chips, which are quite natural when cutting bone,” Krivoshapkin said.

Archaeologists suspect that the surgeons used bronze knives for the surgery, which have been found in graves from this era. Krivoshapkin used a replica knife to recreate with some difficulty the ancient surgical techniques on a modern skull.

“I think it is important to remember that here in the fifth century B.C. Altai was a big center for bone cutting production. People here were very skillful in making different objects from animal bone.”

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