Forensic Friday: Trepanation (or trepanning) is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human cranium. The hole is made to expose the dura mater as a way to treat intracranial diseases, or to release pressure.

Image Source: Rama. Trepanated skull of a woman-P4140363-black. Wikimedia Commons.

Trepanation is one of the oldest surgical procedures with archaeological evidence.

Many prehistoric, and premodern patients had signs of bone healing, this means that many of these patients survived the surgery. Most of the crania with trepanation belong to adult males, but women and children also had the procedure done. In the New World, trepanation is commonly found among the Andean civilizations, and also in Mesoamerica.

Image Source: Wolfgang Sauber. Monte Albán - Trepanierter Schädel 2. Wikimedia Commons.