Inca craniotomy

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

But while examining a private archaeological collection, Squier saw an Inca skull with a missing large square. This fact aroused great curiosity in him. He acquired the relic and sent it to the famous French anatomist and anthropologist Paul Broca … Upon receiving the acquisition of Squier, Brock immediately recognized his uniqueness. Never before had a scientist seen a piece of bone removed with such precision from an ancient skull.

Trepanation, that is, the removal of certain parts of the human skull, was practiced in Africa 12,000 years earlier, and in Europe at least 6,000 years ago. However, such incisions were made in the skulls, mainly of the dead, and this was done, probably out of superstition, in order, for example, to expel evil spirits.

Broca concluded that the operation was performed on the skull of a living Inca, on living bone tissue, as evidenced by signs of infection around the edges of the hole. It was quite clear that the operation was carried out for purely medical purposes. Later studies of other trepanned Peruvian skulls led to the discovery of a whole range of different techniques of surgical techniques and pointed to a striking fact: half of such patients after trepanation were completely cured.

Scientists estimate that the hundreds of trepanned skulls found so far in Peru exceed the number of all known prehistoric trepanned skulls in the world as a whole. Many centuries before the arrival of modern medicine in Peru, here neurosurgery was born …

In the field of operative medicine, the Incas and their predecessors (the Paracas culture) achieved the greatest success. Inca healers have successfully treated wounds and fractures with splints made from large bird feathers; performed operations of amputation of the upper and lower extremities, performed trepanation of the skulls. A painstaking study of trepanned skulls by scientists from Peru, France, the United States and other countries showed that trepanations were performed not only for ritual, but also for medicinal purposes (for wounds and traumatic injuries of the skull, inflammatory processes in bone tissue, syphilitic ulcers, etc.) … Surgical instruments for trepanation, tumi, were made of obsidian, gold, silver, copper … ().

The Incas had a solid knowledge of human anatomy and knew how to apply it in practice. They performed surgical operations with great skill, including craniotomy. The Inca physicians deftly and quickly opened the skull to help their wounded. Researchers who study the skeletons of the Incas have found that there are traces of operations on every sixth skull. Holes in the bones of the skull indicate surgical operations, and scientists have made sure that patients, as a rule, recovered without any special complications and lived after the operation for more than one year.

In the Peruvian Andes in the 15th century, warriors preferred maces, clubs, and fired at the enemy with stone throwers. The sling and mace are not toys, but using such a weapon left more wounded than killed on the battlefield. Inca warriors were especially often wounded in the head. As it happened more than once in the history of mankind, the war stimulated the development of medicine, and the Incas learned how to perform craniotomy in order to save wounded soldiers and even return them to active life.

Nowhere in the world, in any other country, have so many fossil skulls with traces of surgical trepanation been found. The first of these dates back to around 400 BC. Although such operations have also been known in Europe for a very long time, they were not carried out as often as in the Peruvian Andes, and the technique of the operation itself did not reach such perfection.

During the heyday of the Inca culture, these operations became almost commonplace. More than 90% of patients recovered completely, led a normal life, and died, as a rule, after years or even decades. In addition, the percentage of infected wounds was very low. The Inca surgeons knew and successfully used various disinfectants. They treated the wounds with saponin, cinnamic acid, and tannin.

Surgeons used four different surgical techniques: they either drilled a hole in the cranial bone, or scraped out a hole, or sawed out a rectangular piece of bone, or they cut out a round piece of bone (bone washer) that could be reinserted after surgery. The latter method, according to the researchers, was used in cases of urgent surgical intervention, if the wound was severe with obvious consequences.

Despite the achievements of surgeons, archaeologists have not yet found any special surgical instruments in the excavations of the Inca culture. Ritual copper knife tumi was not firm enough for craniotomy. Experiments of Peruvian scientists on living people, which were carried out in the forties and fifties, showed that the metals known to the Incas were not suitable for such purposes.

However, the reason for the skull surgery could also be a medical condition not related to trauma. Anthropologists have found, for example, in some patients signs of mastoiditis, an inflammation of the mastoid process of the temporal bone. This condition, which manifests as excruciating headaches, can be due to poorly treated middle ear inflammation. Headaches and dizziness often gave rise to craniotomy. In some turtles, more than one hole is made, but several - up to seven.

The suture material was also unusual and often borrowed from nature. So, the Brazilian Indians brought together the edges of the wound and brought large ants with strong jaws to them. When the ant grasped the edges of the wound with its jaws, its body was cut off, and the head was left in the wound until it was completely healed; the number of ants used depended on the size of the wound. In this case, a double effect took place: the mechanical convergence of the edges of the wound and its disinfection due to formic acid, the existence and action of which the Indians did not yet know at that time.

Anesthesia is believed to be general and was achieved by using an infusion of narcotic herbs, juices of cacti and other plants; their juices and infusions acted for several days (which amazed the Spanish conquistadors of the 16th century, who arrived from Europe, not yet familiar with pain relief).

Despite the research carried out, the Inca craniotomy remains one of the greatest mysteries in the history of medicine. The Spaniards themselves also performed such operations. But the Incas were far superior to the European conquerors in the art of opening skulls for medical purposes (based on the materials of G. Sidneva).

Two anthropologists from the United States conducted a study of the fossil skulls of the Incas and summarized all the data on traces of surgical operations. They concluded that the nature of the numerous head wounds prompted the Incas to seek treatment for just such injuries. As it happened more than once in the history of mankind, the war stimulated the development of medicine, and the Incas learned how to perform craniotomy in order to save wounded soldiers and even return them to active life.

Valerie Andryushko from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and John Verano from the private Tulane University in New Orleans published an article in the journal in which they presented the results of their research. Scientists have studied the skulls, recently recovered during excavations in the area of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca state. These findings have already been described in detail and thoroughly.

“Although there are many trepanned Inca skulls in museums, in many cases it is not known exactly where they were found, among which objects, and sometimes there is no exact dating,” says John Verano. - Of the 411 skulls examined by us, 16% had at least one hole from trepanation.

Amazing numbers! Nowhere in the world, in any other country, have so many fossil skulls with traces of surgical trepanation been found. The first of these dates back to around 400 BC. Although such operations have also been known in Europe for a very long time, they were not carried out as often as in the Peruvian Andes, and the technique of the operation itself did not reach such perfection.

In the earliest period of Inca history, a third of all operated patients recovered after craniotomy.

“You can see it at the edges of the bone around the hole in the skull,” says John Verano. - They are completely covered with new bone tissue, the holes are smooth and round.

Despite the research carried out, the Inca craniotomy remains one of the greatest mysteries in the history of medicine. No Native American sources have survivedthat mention such operations. The descriptions compiled by the first Spanish conquerors of the South American continent also do not say anything about craniotomy in the Incas (Galina Sidneva, No. 9 2009).

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All these "amazing figures" and facts can be explained very simply - these operations were done not Indians who have not yet learned how to make them. They were made by completely different people - Atlanteans - highly developed people of the white race - who moved to the American continent long before the second planetary catastrophe on Midgard-earth. The chronology of these events is detailed in the book "Russia in crooked mirrors", which is now banned.