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Skull shows man survived surgery to ease brain pressure 2700 years ago

A skull found in China shows signs of healing after part of it was removed 2700 years ago, suggesting that a man survived at least eight weeks after surgery to relieve pressure in his head

By Soumya Sagar

3 November 2023

The skulls shows signs of healing within the walls of the fracture lines, inflicted by a blunt force injury

This ancient skull shows signs of healing within the walls of fracture lines inflicted by a blunt force injury

Qian Wang

A man who lived in what is now China 2700 years ago had a hole cut in his skull to treat a head injury and survived. This suggests that shamanic doctors in that era could do advanced brain surgery.

The Yanghai cemetery in Xinjiang, China, is a large, ancient burial ground containing the graves of a clan that practised shamanism, generally defined as a belief system using trance to communicate with the…

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