When Ephraim George Squier, an American diplomat and anthropologist, embarked on a trip to Peru in 1863, he never imagined that it would promise him the most unexpected discoveries. He went there for antiquities.
But while examining a private archaeological collection, Squier saw an Inca skull with a missing large square. This fact aroused great curiosity in him. He acquired the relic and sent it to the famous French anatomist and anthropologist Paul Broca. Upon receiving the acquisition of Squier, Brock immediately recognized his uniqueness.
Never before had a scientist seen a piece of bone removed from an ancient skull with such precision.
Trepanation, that is, the removal of certain parts of the human skull, was practiced in Africa 12,000 years earlier, and in Europe at least 6,000 years ago. However, such cuts were made in the skulls, mainly of the dead, and this was done, probably out of superstition, in order, for example, to expel evil spirits.
Broca concluded that the operation was performed on the skull of a living Inca, on living bone tissue, as evidenced by signs of infection at the edges of the hole. It was clear that the operation was carried out for purely medical purposes. Later studies of other trepanned Peruvian skulls led to the discovery of a whole range of different techniques of surgical techniques and pointed to the amazing fact: half of these patients after trepanation were completely cured.
Scientists estimate that the hundreds of trepanned skulls found so far in Peru exceed the number of all known prehistoric trepanned skulls in the world as a whole. For many centuries before the arrival of modern medicine in Peru, neurosurgery was born here …
In the field of operative healing, the Incas and their predecessors (the Paracas culture) achieved the greatest success. Inca healers have successfully treated wounds and fractures with splints made from large bird feathers; performed operations of amputation of the upper and lower extremities, performed trepanation of the skulls. A painstaking study of trepanned skulls by scientists from Peru, France, the United States and other countries showed that trepanations were performed not only for ritual, but also for medicinal purposes (for wounds and traumatic injuries of the skull, inflammatory processes in bone tissue, syphilitic ulcers, etc.) … Surgical instruments for trepanation, tumi, were made of obsidian, gold, silver, copper.
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The Incas had a solid knowledge of human anatomy and knew how to apply it in practice. They performed surgical operations with great skill, including craniotomy. The Inca physicians cleverly and quickly opened the skull to help their wounded. Researchers who study the skeletons of the Incas have found that there are traces of operations on every sixth skull. Holes in the bones of the skull indicate surgical operations, and scientists have made sure that patients, as a rule, recovered without any particular complications and lived after the operation for more than one year.
In the Peruvian Andes in the 15th century, soldiers preferred maces, clubs, and fired at the enemy with stone throwers. The sling and mace are not toys, but using such a weapon left more wounded than killed on the battlefield. Especially often, Inca warriors were wounded in the head. As has happened more than once in the history of mankind, the war stimulated the development of medicine, and the Incas learned how to perform craniotomy in order to save wounded soldiers and even return them to active life.
Nowhere in the world, in any other country, have such a large number of fossil skulls with traces of surgical trepanation been found. The first of these dates back to around 400 BC. Although such operations have also been known in Europe for a very long time, they were not performed as often as in the Peruvian Andes, and the technique of the operation itself did not reach such perfection.
During the heyday of the Inca culture, these operations became almost commonplace. More than 90% of patients recovered completely, led a normal life, and died, as a rule, after years or even decades. In addition, the percentage of infected wounds was very low. The Inca surgeons knew and successfully used various disinfectants. They treated wounds with saponin, cinnamic acid, and tannin.
Surgeons used four different surgical techniques: they either drilled a hole in the cranial bone, or scraped out a hole, or sawed out a rectangular piece of bone, or cut out a round piece of bone (bone washer) that could be reinserted after the operation was completed. The latter method, according to the researchers, was used in cases of urgent surgical intervention, if the wound was severe with obvious consequences.
Despite the achievements of surgeons, archaeologists still have not found any special surgical instruments in the excavations of the Inca culture. The tumi ritual copper knife was not hard enough for craniotomy. Experiments of Peruvian scientists on living people, which were carried out in the forties and fifties, showed that the metals known to the Incas were not suitable for such purposes.
However, a non-traumatic disease could also have been the basis for the skull surgery. Anthropologists have found, for example, in some patients signs of mastoiditis, an inflammation of the mastoid process of the temporal bone. This condition, which manifests as excruciating headaches, can be due to poorly treated middle ear inflammation. Headaches and dizziness often gave rise to craniotomy. In some turtles, more than one hole is made, but several - up to seven.
Suture material was also unusual and often borrowed from nature. So, the Brazilian Indians brought together the edges of the wound and brought large ants with strong jaws to them. When the ant grasped the edges of the wound with its jaws, its body was cut off, and the head was left in the wound until complete healing; the number of ants used depended on the size of the wound. At the same time, a double effect took place: mechanical convergence of the edges of the wound and its disinfection due to formic acid, the existence and action of which the Indians did not yet know at that time.
Pain relief, it is believed, was general and was achieved by the use of an infusion of herbs with a narcotic effect, juices of cacti and other plants; their juices and infusions acted for several days (which struck the Spanish conquistadors of the 16th century, who arrived from Europe, not yet familiar with pain relief).
Despite the research carried out, the Inca craniotomy remains one of the greatest mysteries in the history of medicine. The Spaniards themselves also performed such operations. But the Incas far outnumbered the European conquerors in the art of opening skulls for medical purposes.
Two anthropologists from the United States conducted a study of the fossil skulls of the Incas and summarized all the data on traces of surgical operations. They concluded that the nature of the numerous head wounds prompted the Incas to seek treatment for just such injuries. As has happened more than once in the history of mankind, the war stimulated the development of medicine, and the Incas learned how to perform craniotomy in order to save wounded soldiers and even return them to active life.
Valerie Andryushko from Southern Connecticut University in New Haven and John Verano from Tulane Private University in New Orleans published an article in the American Journal of Physical Antropology, in which they outlined the results of their research. Scientists have studied the skulls recovered recently during excavations in the area of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca state. These findings have already been described in detail and thoroughly.
“Although there are many trepanned Inca skulls in museums, in many cases it is not known exactly where they were found, among which objects, and sometimes there is no exact dating,” says John Verano. - Of the 411 skulls we examined, 16% had at least one hole from trepanation.
Amazing numbers! Nowhere in the world, in any other country, have such a large number of fossil skulls with traces of surgical trepanation been found. The first of these dates back to around 400 BC. Although such operations have also been known in Europe for a very long time, they were not performed as often as in the Peruvian Andes, and the technique of the operation itself did not reach such perfection.
In the earliest period of Inca history, after craniotomy, a third of all operated patients recovered.
“You can see it at the edges of the bone around the hole in the skull,” says John Verano. - They are completely covered with new bone tissue, the holes are smooth and round.
Despite the research carried out, the Inca craniotomy remains one of the greatest mysteries in the history of medicine. There are no Native American sources that mention such operations. The descriptions compiled by the first Spanish conquerors of the South American continent also do not say anything about craniotomy in the Incas.
(based on materials by G. Sidneva).
(Galina Sidneva, "Interesting Newspaper. Incredible" No. 9 2009).