engleski

Two skulls with evidence of trepanning from Late Medieval and Modern Age sites in North Dalmatia, Croatia

Trepanation is one of the most spectacular traumas observed on human skeletal remains. Although the procedure was first mentioned and described by Hippocrates, the first osteological evidence of trephining goes back to at least the Neolithic. In the procedure the skull is drilled or scraped by a sharp instrument thus exposing the intracranial contents either to treat health problems or for mystical purposes. So far, only two cases of trepanation were reported from Croatian skeletal series: one from the prehistoric Bezdanjača site, and the other from Ludbreg dated to the Migration period. In the osteological collection of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts two additional cases from North Dalmatia have recently been acquired. One from the Late Medieval and Early Modern Age archaeological site Škabrnja - St. Mary investigated in 2009 by Archaeological Museum in Zadar. The site yielded 12 graves. The skull was found in grave No 5 which contained one female skeleton and an abundance of dislocated bones. A minimum number of five individuals (four adults and one subadult) was present. An oval shaped defect is located on the right side of the frontal bone of a male skull. It is completely healed indicating that the person survived the surgical procedure and lived for some time. The other case was found during archaeological excavations in Pakoštane - Crkvina conducted by Department of Archaeology, University of Zadar. During systemic archaeological excavations from 2006 to 2015 the remnants of the Church of St. Mary and a medieval cemetery were uncovered. Mass grave 76B contained nine individuals (eight adults and one subadult). One of the male skulls showed a massive lytic defect on the right side of the cranium that was in the process of healing suggesting that the afflicted individual died shortly after the surgical procedure was performed.

trepanation ; skeletal material ; Škabrnja ; Pakoštane

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