trepanation

i gave my first conference presentation (in my second year of university) on the ancient peruvian practice of trepanation - drilling or scraping a hole in the skull to relieve pressure from trauma or any number of undesirable mental conditions. the peruvians were extremely good at it, as evidenced by substantial bone regrowth after the operation, and before death.

a recent find on the bank of the thames shows evidence of successful trepanation circa 1750 b.c. "The skull shows that there were people in Britain at the time with significant anatomical and surgical skills, ones not bettered in Europe until Classical Greek and Roman times more than a thousand years later."

cool.