It’s often appropriate to say that a particular practice “isn’t brain surgery” — except when it is. That may be the case in incisions to an ancient Egyptian skull that shows signs of an operation, according to a new study in Frontiers in Medicine.
Researchers in the study examined two skulls from the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection, curious about the role of cancer in ancient Egypt.
In ”Skull 236” (dating from between 2687 and 2345 B.C.E., from a male), microscopic observation revealed a large wound consistent with excessive tissue destruction caused by a tumor, as well as 30 or so smaller lesions that resemble marks made by metastasis. But what took them aback was signs of incisions around some of the wounds.
“It was surprising to see the cut marks at the microscope because we immediately realized the significance and implications of the discovery: Ancient Egyptians, more than 4,000 years ago were already performing a surgical intervention in relation to tumors,” says lead author Edgard Camarós, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
