New Evidence of Prehistoric Neurosurgery in Italy: The Case of Castello Del Tartaro

Pasini, Alba; Donati, Roberta; Bramanti, Barbara; Salzani, Luciano; Gualdi‐Russo, Emanuela

doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2019.05.096

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…The perforation on the skull could be attributed to several reasons (Aufderheide et al 1998;Steinbock 1976;Kaufman et al 1997;Ortner 2003;Petrone et al 2015;Verano 2016b). Trauma, pathological defect, and postmortem damage could lead to the perforations on the skull which could be mistaken for trepanation.…”

Section: Differential Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The shape and size of the wound are consistent with use of weapons with sharp edges, radial fracture lines, and internal beveling at the entry. Pathological defects with lytic lesions, destructive and irregular margins caused by cranial dysostosis, pyogenic bacteria, tuberculosis, treponemal disease, metastatic carcinoma, multiple myeloma, and bone neoplasm could be misdiagnosed as trepanations as well (Kaufman et al 1997;Ortner 2003). Postmortem damage to the crania can be created by the breakage, erosion, weathering, and gnawing marks by carnivores and rodents (Verano 2016a).…”

Section: Differential Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been practiced throughout human history from the Neolithic period to the modern era. Moreover, trepanation has been found all over the world, such as in Europe (Piggott 1940;Mariani-Costantini et al 2000;Facchini et al 2003;Weber and Wahl 2006;Lopez et al 2011;Nicklisch et al 2018;Tulumello et al 2018;Pasini et al 2019;Piombino-Mascali et al 2019), Asia (Zias and Pomeranz 1992;Sankhyan and Weber 2001;Bazarsad 2003;Han and Chen 2007;Lv et al 2013;Khudaverdyan 2016;Zhang et al 2018;Reddy and Satyamurthy 2019), America (Tello 1913;Powell 1970;Jørgensen 1988;Stone and Miles 1990;Velasco-Suarez et al 1992;Andrushko and Verano 2008;Verano 2016a;Kushner et al 2018), Africa (Margetts 1967;Nerlich et al 2003;Collado-Vázquez and Carrillo 2014), and Oceania (Houghton 1977;Vasilyev and Sviridov 2017). Anthropological and ethnographic evidences demonstrated several motivations for trepanation including post-injury treatment or postmortem rituals (Capasso and Tota 1996;Han and Chen 2007;Moskalenko et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early evidence of trepanation along the Yellow River Basin in Neolithic China

Zhou

Lin

et al. 2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Trepanation is a long-lasting ancient practice found around the world with diverse motivations. However, the distribution and motivation of intentional trepanation in China remain unclear. This study presents one of the earliest trepanations on a male adult individual who is unearthed from the Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan, dating back to the late Yangshao cultural period (3500-2900 BC). The macroscopic and microscopic observation, alongside with micro-CT scan, are conducted to further evaluate the conditions on the edges of the perforation and intracranial situation. The oval perforation is located on the occipital bone, and neither fracture nor apparent healing signs are observed on the margins. Archeological evidences and simulated experiment indicate that the trepanation could be conducted by drilling the tables of the skull with a V-bladed stone tool. In view of the location of the perforation and the limited details on the edges, the motivation behind the trepanation could be due to the medical treatment of trauma on the occipital bone or a postmortem ritual. The analysis of the early trepanation along the Yellow River Basin provides further evidence on the ancient human behavior and enriches our understanding of the origin and distribution of trepanation in Neolithic China.

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Section: Differential Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Differential Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early evidence of trepanation along the Yellow River Basin in Neolithic China

Zhou

Lin

et al. 2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…In Italy we know this practice even in prehistoric times and singular cases of cranial trepanation have been described by various authors [8,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] also from apulian context [35][36][37][38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cranial Trepanation: Case Studies between the IV Century BC and VI Century in Southern Italy

Vovlas¹,

Nunno²,

Panzarino³

et al. 2021

Biological Anthropology - Applications and Case Studies

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Cranial trepanation is among the oldest head surgical procedures, creating a hole through the skull. This procedure is the surgical removal of a portion of the skull as a medical treatment to cure a specific disease or as a religious or magical ritual. Cranial trepanation has been reported from very early times and widespread all over the world. This work is based on data from six trepanned skulls from the Hellenistic Age (IV century BC) to the Late Antiquity (VI century). The samples come from Puglia (Southern Italy), from the northern (the peninsula of Gargano) to the central area: three cases come from Vieste (Foggia), Ischitella (Foggia) and Alberona (Foggia), the others three from Gravina in Puglia (Bari) and Canosa (Barletta, Andria, Trani). All skulls have been evaluated via an anthropological, radiological and odontological approach. This study indicates the value of a methodology, which encompasses anthropology, radiology and imaging, and archeo-forensic investigations, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary teamwork in any assessment of human remains. The study supports the hypothesis of the presence of a long tradition of medical centres in the Mediterranean basin area.

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