Viral News
2,000 Year Old Skull Held Together By Metal Shows Proof Of Ancient Advanced Surgery
2,000 Year Old Skull Held Together By Metal Offers Proof Of Ancient Advanced Surgery
The 2,000 year old skull of a Peruvian warrior was found to have been fused together with metal in one of the world’s oldest examples of advanced surgery, according to a museum.
The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma says the skull, which is in its collection, is reported to have been that of a man who was injured during battle before having some of the earliest forms of surgery to implant a piece of metal in his head to repair the fracture.
Experts told the Daily Star that the man survived the surgery, with the skull now a key piece of evidence in proving that ancient peoples were capable of performing advanced surgeries.
View this post on Instagram
The skull in question is an example of a Peruvian elongated skull, which is an ancient form of body modification where tribe members intentionally deformed the skulls of young children by binding them with cloth or even binding the head between two pieces of wood for prolonged periods of time.
‘This is a Peruvian elongated skull with metal surgically implanted after returning from battle, estimated to be from about 2000 years ago. One of our more interesting and oldest pieces in the collection,’ the museum said.
‘We don’t have a ton of background on this piece, but we do know he survived the procedure.’
‘Based on the broken bone surrounding the repair, you can see that it’s tightly fused together. It was a successful surgery.’
You must be logged in to post a comment logged in Login