In the photo: One of the skulls of the garamantes with traces of almost healed trepanation
Anthropologists have studied the holes in the skulls of the ancient Garamantes civilization in the Sahara region. It turned out that these are traces of a medical operation - craniotomy
A team of scientists from the School of Archeology and Ancient History, led by Dr. Efthymia Nikita of the University of Cambridge, analyzed three skulls of men from the ancient Garamante people who lived in the Sahara about three thousand years ago. Excavations were carried out in the area of the capital of the Garamant state, the city of Garama (now it is the Libyan city of Jerma). Anthropologists have found traces of trepanation on the skulls - several small round holes. According to scientists, the men successfully survived this operation, since traces of overgrowing of holes are clearly visible on their skulls.
The state of the Garamantes emerged around the end of the second millennium BC. This ancient people lived in the Sahara desert and had Caucasian features. The Garamante civilization is considered technologically highly advanced, so it is not surprising that their medicine was at such a high level. “Surgical skills, the ability to perform craniotomy was an important part of the culture, perhaps this knowledge passed from one tribe to another, because there was a lively trade among the peoples inhabiting North Africa at that time,” says Nikita.
According to scientists, the analysis of holes in the skulls of men excludes some kind of disease, animal bite marks or impact on a sharp object as a result of, for example, a fall. The holes were made very carefully, so it’s impossible to talk about any violent blows or the use of violence in general, anthropologists say. According to Efimiya Nikita, the analysis of the holes suggests that the men underwent a medical operation.
infox.ru
The ancient tradition of craniotomy has previously been best studied using the example of the Inca skulls. Ancient Inca surgery was of the highest standard. Operations for craniotomy were carried out very often and were common in the medical practice of the Indians.
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Photo: Credit unknown / paranormal-news.ru
The Incas performed craniotomy operations on approximately every third inhabitant of Cuzco. Of the 420 skulls found, 145 had holes from previous operations. One skull has seven holes, which means that this patient underwent craniotomy seven times. In addition, according to the results of the examination of the bones, it was possible to find out that infectious diseases after operations were extremely rare. Moreover, instead of antibiotics and pain relievers, the Incas used various herbs that worked no worse than modern drugs.