An interesting case of prehistoric trepanation from Poland: re-evaluation of the skull from the Franki Suchodolskie site

Abstract

The skull described here was excavated in Central Poland (archaeological site Franki Suchodolskie) in 1951, and was known as one of the oldest cases of healed trepanation. This skull, with later excavations from the Ukraine (cemeteries of Vasilyevka II and Vasilyevka III), was the basis for dating the beginning of the practice of trepanation in the Mesolithic period. The skull was never comprehensively described and dated, although it was scientifically extremely important. The skull has been reassessed by the authors of this paper has brought thorough verification of the knowledge concerning this excavation. According to radiocarbon analysis it is much younger than previously thought and has now been dated to the Late Neolithic or the Bronze Age. Earlier opinions about the healing and survival after the operation have not been confirmed: the hole in the squama of the frontal bone made by scraping and then by grooving has no evidence of healing. Radiological studies as well as computer tomography indicate lack of any healing processes in the bone tissue around the trepanation opening. The results of the analysis significantly modify ideas regarding the earliest skull operations in Central Europe, and change the time of the first trepanation to the Late Neolithic, as for most of the continent.

A review of trepanations in Anatolia with new cases

“…This edge was fractured in a regular shape and widened from the external table to the internal table, as opposed to the other edges (Erdal, 2005). It is concluded that cranial defects caused by blunt injury tend to show internal beveling at their edges (Berryman & Haun, 1996; Lovell, 1997; Aufderheide and Rodriguez‐Martin, 1998; Ortner, 2003). This characteristic of the trepanation indicated that surgical intervention occurred following cranial trauma in order to clean the damage (Erdal, 2005).…”

“…The history of trepanation is partially known through examples from all over the world, which have been discussed in numerous case studies (i.e. Dastugue, 1973; Mallegni & Valassina, 1996; Facchini et al ., 2003; Gama & Cunha, 2003; Lorkiewicz et al ., 2005) as well as review articles (i.e. MacCurdy, 1923; Piggott, 1940; Rytel, 1956; Stewart, 1958; Gomez, 1973; Crubézy et al ., 2001; Breitwieser, 2003; Lillie, 2003; Mednikova, 2003; Roberts & McKinley, 2003; Silva, 2003; Verano, 2003a,b; Nystrom, 2007).…”

Survival after trepanation—Early cranial surgery from Late Iron Age Switzerland

“…from Italy (Novak and Knüsel, 1997), Germany (Piek et al, 1999;Weber and Wahl, 2006), Poland (Lorkiewicz et al, 2005) and Portugal (Gama and Cunha, 2003;Silva, 2003). There are older cases of possible trepanations from Mesolithic times summarized by Crubézy et al, (2001).…”

A possible case of symbolic trepanation in Neolithic Central Germany

“…However, the number of cases is growing continuously. Besides the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, trepanations continued to be used throughout Europe in the Iron Age, in Greek and Roman Antiquity, and in the Middle Ages (e.g., Bennike, ; Bereczki, Molnár, Marcsik, & Pálfi, ; Beyneix, ; Erdal & Erdal, ; Giuffra & Fornaciari, ; Gresky et al, ; Lorkiewicz, Stolarczyk, Śmiszkiewicz‐Skwarska, & Żądzińska, ; Moghaddam et al, ; Silva, ).…”