There are scientific procedures in human history that can be quite macabre and paved the way to our medical system today. But what is trepanation?

But What Is Trepanation?

What kind of ancient surgery deliberately cut or scraped away parts of people’s skulls? Trepanning.

To explain this better, let’s take a journey back in time. It might sound bizarre now, but this practice has a long history, going back thousands of years and spanning different cultures.

The Early Days Of Trepanation

In the olden days, they used trepanation for all sorts of reasons. One of the main ones was to treat head injuries, fractures, or infections. The idea was that creating an opening in the skull could relieve pressure on the brain or get rid of damaged tissue.

They believed in giving the body a helping hand to heal itself, even though their understanding of medicine was limited compared to today.

But trepanation wasn’t just about fixing physical problems. Some cultures turned it into a spiritual or religious thing. Imagine believing that drilling a hole in your head could chase away evil spirits, cure mental issues, or even open up a direct line to the divine.

It was like they thought the mind and the soul were deeply connected to the physical body, and messing with the skull could impact all that.

Trepanation Dates Further Back Than First Thought

Sometimes, people get trepanned not for medical or spiritual reasons but as a cultural or personal statement. It was a way of marking identity, like a permanent tattoo, but on your skull. This could be for tribal affiliations or because it was part of a cultural tradition.

We’ve found evidence of trepanation in various ancient civilizations. Think of the Incas, the Greeks, and the Egyptians—they all left behind trepanned skulls.

What’s incredible is that some of these skulls show signs of healing, suggesting that people not only underwent this intense procedure but survived it. It’s mind-blowing to imagine what kind of medical care and resilience these folks must have had.

We’ve Learned To Protect Our Skulls

Nowadays, we don’t do trepanation anymore in mainstream medicine. We have much more advanced techniques and technologies. If someone needs surgery on their skull or brain, we use procedures like craniotomy, which is a lot safer and more effective.

Even though trepanation isn’t something you’d find in a hospital today, it’s a fascinating part of our history. Looking at those trepanned skulls and understanding the reasons behind this practice gives us a glimpse into how ancient societies saw health, illness, and the mysteries of the human body and mind.

It’s a reminder that our journey in understanding and caring for ourselves has been long and sometimes strange.

Dora Esquivel