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Stone Age Skull Reveals Earliest Surgery Evidence
13 Jul
Summary
- Woman survived two complex ear surgeries thousands of years ago.
- Evidence suggests prehistoric healers treated mastoiditis.
- Discovery rewrites understanding of Stone Age medical knowledge.
A nearly 5,300-year-old skull unearthed in Spain has revealed the world's earliest physical evidence of complex ear surgery. The remains of an elderly woman, discovered in a Neolithic tomb dating back to between 3800 BCE and 3000 BCE, show signs of two distinct surgical procedures performed behind her ears.
Careful examination indicates these were not accidental injuries but deliberate medical interventions, likely to treat mastoiditis, a life-threatening infection. The remarkable regeneration of bone around the surgical sites confirms the woman survived both operations for at least several weeks, pushing back the timeline for such complex procedures by over 4,000 years.
This finding challenges previous notions of primitive Stone Age remedies, suggesting prehistoric communities possessed sophisticated diagnostic and surgical skills. It highlights a surprising effectiveness in ancient healing practices, performed using sharpened flint tools and possibly heated blades for cauterization, long before modern medical advancements.
