Three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (800 BC–AD 1000)

Juengst, Sara L.; Chávez, Sergio Jorge

doi:10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.11.005

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…They included a depressed, cranial fracture, remodeled nasal and maxillary fractures, and a healed ulna fracture. Near the depressed cranial fracture, a trepanation had subsequently been performed on the posterior right parietal (Figure ) (Juengst and Chávez ). The technique of trepanation was boring and cutting, a method commonly performed in the prehispanic Andes (Verano ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some injuries, such as rib fractures, may heal without intervention, the more severe injuries likely required some sort of medical attention. The presence of surgical intervention in the form of trepanation on one individuals underscores the ability of these individuals to intervene after trauma (Juengst & Chávez ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trauma in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (AD 1000-1450) cranial fracture, a trepanation had subsequently been performed on the posterior right parietal (Figure 9) (Juengst and Chávez 2015). The technique of trepanation was boring and cutting, a method commonly performed in the prehispanic Andes (Verano 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Trauma in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (AD 1000–1450)

Juengst

Chávez

Hutchinson

et al. 2015

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1000–1450) in the Andes was a time of turbulent political and social change as two major states, Wari and Tiwanaku, lost power. Increased rates of skeletal trauma in parts of Peru and Chile for this time period have been interpreted as increased interpersonal violence, perhaps as a result of the political vacuum left in the wake of state collapse. In the Titicaca Basin, people increasingly built defensive architecture on the northern lake shore; however, in the southern lake basin, people did not. Few skeletal remains have been excavated in the lake basin overall to corroborate an increase in violent activity or measure if violent activity was increasing for all populations. This paper reports the skeletal trauma for nine LIP individuals excavated from a common tomb on the Copacabana Peninsula in the southern Titicaca basin. This small sample is important for several reasons: (i) they are the only skeletal remains from the Copacabana Peninsula during the LIP; (ii) 100% of the sample population experienced traumatic injury, possibly because of interpersonal violence; and (iii) trauma was often survived. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trauma in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (AD 1000–1450)

Juengst

Chávez

Hutchinson

et al. 2015

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…Evidence of surgery in the time before written records is scarce. Until now, the earliest primary evidence of advanced medical knowledge, including amputation, was restricted to Holocene cases 1,24,25 -earlier reports of deliberate amputation of limbs among Neanderthals are now considered inconclusive, although these cases remain examples of medical care intervention 26 (for example, the malformed forelimb of Shanidar 1, is equally likely to have occurred from progressive loss of limb to disease or by accident). Furthermore, it has long been a commonly held view among western scholars that healthcare systems and medical procedures of historically known foraging societies are, and were, rudimentary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo

Maloney

Dilkes-Hall

Vlok

et al. 2022

Nature

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The prevailing view regarding the evolution of medicine is that the emergence of settled agricultural societies around 10,000 years ago (the Neolithic Revolution) gave rise to a host of health problems that had previously been unknown among non-sedentary foraging populations, stimulating the first major innovations in prehistoric medical practices1,2. Such changes included the development of more advanced surgical procedures, with the oldest known indication of an ‘operation’ formerly thought to have consisted of the skeletal remains of a European Neolithic farmer (found in Buthiers-Boulancourt, France) whose left forearm had been surgically removed and then partially healed3. Dating to around 7,000 years ago, this accepted case of amputation would have required comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy and considerable technical skill, and has thus been viewed as the earliest evidence of a complex medical act3. Here, however, we report the discovery of skeletal remains of a young individual from Borneo who had the distal third of their left lower leg surgically amputated, probably as a child, at least 31,000 years ago. The individual survived the procedure and lived for another 6–9 years, before their remains were intentionally buried in Liang Tebo cave, which is located in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, in a limestone karst area that contains some of the world’s earliest dated rock art4. This unexpectedly early evidence of a successful limb amputation suggests that at least some modern human foraging groups in tropical Asia had developed sophisticated medical knowledge and skills long before the Neolithic farming transition.

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“…Trepanations are also recorded from other South American countries, such as Bolivia (Juengst and Chávez, 2015), Colombia (Gomez, 1973) and Mexico (Christensen and Winter, 1997;Velascosuarez et al, 1992;Wilkinson, 1975). Some trephined skulls have also been found in North or North-eastern Africa (Martin, 2013;Nikita et al, 2013;Pahl, 1993), Anatolia (Erdal and Erdal, 2011), Russia (Krivoshapkin et al, 2014) and East Asia (Han and Chen, 2007).…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Moghaddam

Mailler-Burch

Kara

et al. 2015

International Journal of Paleopathology

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Trepanation is defined as the intentional perforation of the cranial vault with removal of a piece of skull bone. In Europe, trepanation is known to have been practiced at least since the Neolithic, and it can still be found today in East African native tribes. Two skulls with lesions from the Late Iron Age site Münsingen-Rain (420-240 BC) were investigated. The aim of this study was to analyse the lesions and to determine whether they were caused by surgical interventions. Both individuals were analysed by current morphologic-anthropological methods and radiological examinations were performed with a multislice CT-scanner. Additionally, this work surveys trepanations reported in Switzerland and calculates survival rates. In Switzerland, 34 individuals with trepanations have been published. As a tendency, the survival rate appears to be relatively high from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity but then decreases until Pre-Modern times. The 78% survival rate in Late Iron Age Switzerland indicates that the surgery was often performed successfully. Skull injuries sustained in conflicts could have been a reason for trepanation during the Iron Age.

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Three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (800 BC–AD 1000)

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Trauma in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (AD 1000–1450)

Trauma in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (AD 1000–1450)

Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo

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

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