Archaeologists found evidence of trepanation on medieval woman’s skull

According to a recent paper published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, scientists analyzed the skull of a medieval woman who once lived in central Italy and found that she underwent at least two brain surgeries consistent with the practice of trephine surgery. I found evidence. Although she is one of the few archaeological evidences of early medieval women being pierced, why did the woman in question undergo such a dangerous and invasive surgical procedure? It is a matter of speculation.

Archaeologists have found evidence of various instances of primitive surgery dating back thousands of years. For example, last year archaeologists unearthed the skull of her 5,300-year-old elderly woman (about 65 years old) from a Spanish tomb. They determined that her seven cuts near her left ear canal were strong evidence of primitive surgical procedures to treat middle ear infections. The team also identified a flint blade that may have been used as a cauterizing tool. By the 17th century, this was a fairly common procedure for treating acute ear infections, with skulls showing evidence of mastectomy found in Croatia (11th century), Italy (18th and 19th centuries), and Copenhagen (19th century). 19th or early 20th century). ).

Cranial perforation (piercing the head) is probably the oldest known example of skull surgery, and although it is rarely performed, it is still done today. The skull is usually drilled or scraped to expose the bone. dura mater, the outermost of three layers of connective tissue called meninges, that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Accidentally piercing that layer can infect and damage the underlying blood vessels. The practice dates from 7,000 to 10,000 years before him, as evidenced by cave paintings and human remains. In the Middle Ages, trepanation was performed to treat ailments such as seizures and skull fractures.

The skulls examined for this latest paper were unearthed in the late 19th century from the Longovard cemetery in Castel-Trosino in central Italy, dated from the 6th to the 8th century AD, and were found in hundreds of other burials. It also included things. However, only 19 of his skulls were found at the site, in good enough condition for study. Castel Torosino was of strategic importance to the region after the fall of the Roman Empire. According to the author, the Byzantine government wanted to stabilize control over central Italy and ensure peace by encouraging members of the prestigious Longobard family to live there. It contained objects and fine jewelry.

This particular skull belongs to a woman who is about 50 years old. In addition to the remains of a man, it was found in a double burial, along with bronze brooches, combs and gold filaments suggesting that the couple belonged to one of those elite families. The skull was examined and noted several cranial defects, specifically a cruciform segment of porous bone with a central oval depression and a second oval abrasion.

So they did a CT scan of the skull and made a mold to find out more. They cleaned the surface of the bone with a cotton swab, let it dry, then applied blue silicone to the area with the bone defect with a dispensing gun, then added his second layer of orange silicone and , covered with blue silicone. A cast was then made in epoxy resin and allowed to dry for 48 hours. The casting surface was then metallized with gold powder and the samples were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy.

Ileana Micarelli, a former postdoc at Sapienza University and co-author at Cambridge University, said: international studies.