Trepanation in Prehistoric South America: Geographic and Temporal Trends over 2,000 Years

Abstract

In 1867 Paul Broca presented to the Société d’Anthropologie of Paris a portion of a skull he believed showed evidence of a trepanation performed on a living patient in prehistoric times (Broca, 1867). In subsequent decades, many more examples would be found by anthropologists exploring burial caves and tombs in the Central Andes, confirming Broca’s assertion that a form of cranial surgery was practiced in prehistoric South America. Trepanned skulls would also be recognized from Neolithic sites in western Europe, and subsequently from other parts of the Old World (Piggot, 1940; Lisowski, 1967). However, Andean South America retains the distinction of having produced more prehistoric trepanned skulls than the rest of the world combined, estimated at as many as 1,000 specimens (Stewart, 1958).

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