martes, 5 de julio de 2016

Evidence of trepanation found in 7,000 year old skull from Sudan


1/4. he grave of a man subjected to trepanation. Photo: M. Jórdeczka
 
One of the oldest known cases of trepanation of the skull in North East Africa - about seven thousand years ago - discovered Poznań archaeologists working in Sudan. The research project leader Dr. Maciej Jórdeczka told PAP about the discovery.

29.06.2016. The discovery was made during excavations in the Neolithic settlement (V-IV millennium BC) in Omdurman in Sudan.

"The dead were then buried within the settlement - it was a widely practiced custom" - told PAP Dr. Maciej Jórdeczka from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology (IAE) PAS in Poznań.

Trepanation is a procedure consisting in making a hole in the skull for medical or magical-religious purposes. Scientists are not able to clearly determine why the procedure had been performed on the person, whose remains they found during excavation. The hole in the skull in this instance was circular, with a diameter of approx. 2 cm.

Surprise for the scientists was "advanced" age of the deceased: 55-65 years. The average age 7 thousand years ago in Sudan it was in fact much lower. Hardly anyone lived to such "venerable" age - experts note. [...] Science & Scholarship in Poland / Link 2 


Actualización: Caso de trepanación con 7000 años de antigüedad en Sudán | Arqueología Paleorama en Red
Se ha descubierto uno de los casos más antiguos conocidos de trepanación en el cráneo al norte del África Oriental. Los restos de unos 7000 años de antigüedad fueron descubiertos por arqueólogos polacos del Instituto de Arqueología y Etnología PAS (IAE) que trabajan en Sudán. Suponen que los conocimientos médicos en esta zona debieron ser avanzados para la época porque una de la mayores sorpresas para los investigadores ha sido la "avanzada" edad de los difuntos, que en muchos casos alcazaban los 65 años, algo nada común para el Neolítico... 

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