3. Trepanning, wherein a hole was drilled into the human skull, was a common practice throughout the history of medicine to incorrectly treat a host of problems
Trepanning, also known as trepanation, is a surgical technique whereby a hole is drilled into the human skull, either to release built up blood pressure or expose brain tissue for operation. Believed to be the world’s oldest confirmed surgical procedure, with the earliest known examples dated to 6500 BCE in prehistoric France, more than 1,500 Neolithic skulls, representing approximately 10% of all recovered skulls from this period, depict evidence of early trepanation, strongly suggesting the widespread early use of the medical method.
Although continuing to serve a legitimate purpose in modern medicine, notably as part of corneal transplant surgery or to relieve the pressures of a subdural hematoma, the historic use of trepanning was shockingly dangerous and misguided. During the ancient era trepanning was predominantly used to treat those considered as behaving abnormally, now recognized as sufferers of epilepsy, migraines, seizures, or mental disorders, with a burr hole created in a person’s skull with the goal of releasing evil spirits trapped within responsible for said symptoms; it is likely the practice was also employed as a form of emergency surgery after severe head wounds, a common occurrence due to the prevalence of blunt stone weaponry at the time. Similarly, trepanning is believed to have been employed by pre-Columbian Mesoamericans but at a significantly decreased rate to that of Europe; it should be noted, however, that the archaeological record in the region is complicated by the concurrent practice of skull modification performed by early Mesoamericans, making the clear identification of skull surgeries difficult.