The Washington times., 1901-09-01
ANTIQUITY OF TREPHINING
Skulls of Ancient Peruvians Dis
close Early Surgical knowledge.
"A Collection at the National Museum
That Attracts the Attention of Pro-
fessionaI Men-It Was Procured in
1893 by DIR. Manuel Antonio Muniz.

There has just been placed on exhibition
at the National Museum number OF an
cient Peruvian skulls, which exhibit evil
dences OF having been trephined, thus
s;howing that that operation was in vogue
among the prehistoric peoples of the land
OF the Incas.
This collection was acquired by the Mu-
scum in the following Furious manner:
During several years prior to 1893 DR..
Manuel Antonio Muniz some time Sur
geon General of the Army of Peru, trav-
eled extensively through the ancient lands
of the Incas and made large collections
from the huacals and scattered graves of
the Andean valleys and the desiccated
Piedmont zone, including from the Cor
diilera toward the Pacific Ocean. Low
land Peru is arid and even the rugged
highlands fronting the Pacific receive but
limited rainfall. and by reason of a COM
bination of conditions the air, and conse-
quently the soil, are dry nearly all the
year. In some of the places the ground
is saline or nitrous Accordingly organic
matter buried in the earth is preserved
in a manner hardly conceivable to those
accustomed to humid lands, and thus Dr..
Muniz's explorations were remarkably
fruitful.
The material collected from the long
neglected tonIbs of Peru by DR.. Muniz
comprised weapons of war and the chase,
all sorts of implements, domestic uten-
sils, costumery of skins and stuffs, and
articles of adornment; and, last but not
least, about a Thousand skulls, nineteen
of which were found to be trephined.
several of them more than once.
Dr. Muniz attended the international
Congress OF Anthropology of the World $
Congress Auxiliary of the Worlds Co.
lumbar Exposition, at Chicago. for the
purpose of exhibiting and describing the
frephined crania He afterward attended
the American Medical Congress in
this city, and exhibited the collection in
formally. Still later ne transferred its
custody of Prof. W McGee, on behalf
of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
On his return to Lima, toward the end
of 1898. Dr. Muniz had the misfortune to
encounter a political movement, or, in
other words, one of those revolutions
which are by no means of rare occur
renee in South American countries. Be
fore the uprising was at an END. his
house was sacked and burned, his library
and rich collections were destroyed, and
he was exiled. OF all of the archaeo-
logic material brought together during
his years Of labor, only the collection Of
trephined crania remains, and the ener-
getic collector has insured the safety Of
this remnant by transferring 1t first to
the Bureau of American Ethnology,
which, In turn, has turned it over for
public exhibition to the National Muse
um.
The antiquity of the delicate process Of
trephining and it's employment among
primitive peoples, has been accounted for
by the common need of such method for
mending the broken skulls. which must
have been then very prevalent
If said scientist, recently, while
speaking OF the skulls, I'VE take into ac-
count the class of offensive weapons used
by the ancient Peruvians in their terrible
conflicts, almost hand TO hand. it will easi-
~ be comprehended that complex fracture
of the skull. with depression of its bony
plates. must have been very common in
deed. In fact. they were accustomed to
throw stones Of more or less round or ir-
regular shape to great distances with high
initial velocity by means of the sling: they
were also armed with large wooden. clubs,
extremely hard, in the ends of which
splints of copper or stone were fastened.
as well as hatchets OF both these mater
falls and of various forms.
without treating" continued the
speaker. "of the order In which the diff
ferent civilizations of ancient Peru were
developed, ! may merel:- observe that It
is certain the aborigines possessed ad-
vanced medical knowledge, making use OF
q magnificent fora, full today OF secrets
TO u.s. They practiced massage, and could
distinguish the various Illnesses 10 whie.
they were subject Fragments OF flint.
sharpened 10 point were used for bleed
ing and other operations. Lastly, they
possessed perfect process Of mummifica-
ton.
strange, after all. surgical science being
30 far advanced in prehistoric Peru. that
on the presentation Of broken skull