Cranial trepanation
Trepanación craneal
- Date
- c. 5100 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Ensisheim, Alsace, France
- Credited to
- Linear Pottery culture (LBK)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A skull with two scraped trepanations, one of them fully healed, proof that the patient survived the opening of the skull. The first documented major surgery with survival.
Earlier trepanations are claimed at Vasylivka (Ukraine, c. 7300 BCE) and in North Africa (Taforalt), with less secure dating.
What it led to
- Surgery as a transmitted practice, with high survival rates in the Neolithic
- Treatment of head trauma linked to Neolithic violence
- A trepanning tradition spreading from Europe to the Andes
Built on
- Dentistry: drilling of teethc. 7000 BCE
- Mehrgarh dentistry
- Flint blades and scrapers
Made possible
- Andean cranial trepanationc. 400 BCE
- Andean cranial surgery
- Metal surgical instruments