All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

surgery

Archaeologists excavating skeletal remains at Çatalhöyük in Turkey. Source: Anadolu Agency

Evidence of 8,500-Year-Old Head Surgery Excavated at Çatalhöyük

During ongoing excavations at the 9,000-year-old extinct Anatolian city of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey, a team of archaeologists discovered something remarkable. While examining the skeleton of a...
Representative image of a Copper Age woman undergoing trepanation. Source: Created by OpenAI's DALL-E, an AI image generation model

Woman Who Lived in Spain 4,500 Years Ago Survived Two Radical Head Surgeries

Researchers analyzing a woman’s skeleton unearthed from a Copper Age graveyard on the Iberian Peninsula discovered clear and unmistakable proof that this individual had undergone two surgeries to her...
Pirate surgeon kit. Source:  Kai Beercrafter / Adobe Stock.

The Gruesome Life of a Pirate Surgeon (Video)

During the Golden Age of Piracy danger was constant. Facing bullets, splinters, and diseases like scurvy, yellow fever, malaria, and smallpox, skilled surgeons were a necessity. 18th-century pirate...
King Henry V arrow removal surgery recreation. Source: YouTube Screenshot / thehistorysquad.

Recreating Henry V’s Gruesome Arrow Removal Surgery (Video)

Revisiting history, we're drawn to a pivotal moment in Henry V's life. Amidst the chaos of the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury, a fateful arrow struck the young royal. The arrowhead found its mark...
Image 111 of On the Fabric of the Human Body by Andreas Vesalius (Library of Congress)

The Most Influential Medical Book of the 16th Century (Video)

In the 16th century, a groundbreaking medical book emerged, now revered as one of the most influential of its time. Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (‘On the Fabric of the Human Body’)...
Fallen knight struck by arrows. Source: Jacob / Adobe Stock.

Unveiling Medieval Arrow Removal Methods (Video)

In medieval times , arrow wounds were a formidable challenge, and the methods employed to treat them were both fascinating and grim. A historical study reveals that arrow removal techniques have been...
Some of the comprehensive set of Roman medical tools discovered in doctors tomb in Hungary. Source: ELTE BTK

Physician’s Tomb Holds Comprehensive Set of Roman Medical Tools

Some two thousand years, an ancient Roman physician made a trip to Hungary, for unknown reasons, and now, archaeologists have found his tomb near Jászberény, a city located approximately 50 miles...
Skull of a medieval woman showing evidence of brain surgery. Source: Divulgação/Universidade Sapienza

Unfortunate Medieval Woman Underwent Surgery of the Skull—Twice!

A detailed examination of the skull of a woman who lived in central Italy in the medieval settlement of Castel Trosino more than 1,300 years ago has revealed something both astonishing and...
Trepanned skulls have been found worldwide, from Siberia to Turkey to Peru. Pictured: Peruvian trepanation patients. Source: University of Miami

Was this Trepanned Skull Found in Turkey the Work of Magicians or Medics?

Researchers in Turkey have unearthed yet another trepanned skull. But was this brutal operation the work of magicians or medics? While the academic disciplines of neurology and neurosurgery didn't...
Left: Liang Tebo burial features of the 29000-BC amputee of Borneo, Indonesia: a) A single adult inhumation (TB1); the skull is to the right of the scale bar; Middle: Artist ‘s impression of Tebo1, the oldest amputee on record; Right: Surgically amputated site of the left tibia and fibula showing the evidence of amputation.             Source: Maloney, et al. / Nature; Jose Garcia (Garciartist) and Griffith University / Nature; Maloney, et al. / Nature

Indonesia’s 31,000-year-old Amputee Shatters the History of Surgery

Archaeologists in Borneo, Indonesia have unearthed the skeleton of a man who was an amputee, and he underwent his complicated medical procedure some 31,000 years ago! Until now, all archaeological...
Researcher Li Nan, from Peking University, pictured with her team, holding the foot amputation evidence that was subjected to biomedical analysis. Source: South China Morning Post

Punishment: 3000-year-old Chinese Foot Amputation May Be Oldest Ever!

Researchers in China believe a skeleton found in a tomb in the northwest of the country is the earliest known example of foot amputation as punishment for a crime, reports the South China Morning...
Artist’s rendition of Inca skull surgery. Credit: ThomasH

Horrifying Surgical Kit Found in 1,000-Year-Old Surgeon Tomb in Peru

An ancient surgeon’s tomb has been discovered in Peru containing his grisly surgical weapons, including knives, needles and tumis – sharp metallic tools used for medical or sacrificial purposes...
A closeup of how the earliest ear surgery skull in history (from over 5,000 years ago) was discovered in a Neolithic tomb in Spain in 2018.					Source: Fotógrafos Photography Study / Scientific Reports

Evidence of Ear Surgery From 5,300 Years Ago Discovered in Spain

Modern science has lent a certain sophistication to human history, allowing for various genetic and acquired deficiencies to be addressed. Today, our eyes and ears can be repaired with simple and...
Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

In 1961, the Rio Ica burst its banks and flooded parts of the Ocucaje Desert. Was an earthquake responsible for the flood? When the water had retreated, the local farmers inspected the damage. Their...
The elongated skull of a Peruvian warrior who underwent skull surgery 2,000 years ago. Source: Museum of Osteology

2,000-Year-Old Peruvian Underwent Successful Skull Surgery

A skull housed at the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma is causing quite a stir. The ancient elongated skull, dating back 2,000 years, once belonged to a Peruvian warrior. After being injured during...
The ancient site of Stonehenge

Secret Stonehenge: Mounds, Artifacts, and Intrigue

Stonehenge stands within a vast ritual landscape. Encircling the towering stones, over 800 round mounds once added to the temple’s splendour. From within these enigmatic mounds some of the finest...
Anesthetics allowed for far more detailed, careful surgeries to succeed. Source: Marina / Adobe Stock.

The Numbing Truth: A History Of Anesthesia

Throughout history, needing the help of a surgeon was almost a death sentence because if one did not die on the operating table, one would feel the excruciating agony brought from the heavy crude...
Severed Head of Stone Age Women Found Lodged in Rocks of Italian Cave

Severed Head of Stone Age Woman Found Lodged in Rocks of Italian Cave

Archaeologists arrived at Marcel Loubans cave near Bologna , Italy, in 2017 to embark on a unique rescue mission . Their goal was to extract a solitary human skull that had somehow become marooned on...
Ending the Historical Atrocity of Virginity Tests?

Ending the Historical Atrocity of Virginity Tests?

Since medieval times, many Muslim communities have regarded the hymen, the tiny piece of skin known as the vaginal membrane, as proof of virginity and a woman’s moral virtue. Even today in the United...
Ectocranial view of the brain surgery of paleopathological specimen: a) red arrow points to orifice on the mastoid process, and b) surgical preparation dimensions peripheral to trephination.         Source: Anagnostis P. Agelarakis / Adelphi University

Researchers Reveal Early Complex Brain Surgery in Ancient Greece

New research from Adelphi University has revealed the first forensically-assessed archaeological discovery of remains of a group of domineering mounted archer-lancers and their kin of the Eastern...
Ancient skulls bearing evidence of trephination - a telltale hole surgically cut into the cranium - found in Peru.             Source: University of Miami

Trephination: The Oldest Evidenced Surgery Still in Use Today?

Trephination (known also as trepanning, trepanation, trephining, or making a burr hole), is a surgical procedure, which involves the drilling of a hole in the skull of a living person. Trephination...
Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery and Nicholas Henri Jacob, ‘Iconografia d'anatomia chirurgica e di medicina operatoria,’ Florence, 1841.

The Ugly History of Cosmetic Surgery

Reality television shows based on surgical transformations, such as The Swan and Extreme Makeover , were not the first public spectacles to offer women the ability to compete for the chance to be...
Human skulls have been found with evidence of craniotomy.

Skulls Show Evidence Ancient Chinese Brain Surgeons Operated 3,000 Years Ago

Chinese experts have determined that two skulls found in a historic site show evidence of ancient craniotomy. The finds are being taken to demonstrate that craniotomy, along with other advanced...
Extraction of the Stone of Folly

Five Bloodcurdling Medical Procedures That are No Longer Performed … Thankfully

Surgeries and treatments come and go. A new BMJ guideline, for example, makes “strong recommendations” against the use of arthroscopic surgery for certain knee conditions. But while this key-hole...

Pages