Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1915-07-01
rrepanninr Skulls Done BY Indians.

DR.. Joseph c. Thompson, lieutenant
commander in the United States Navy.
has written detailed description OF the
methods of trepanning practiced by the
Indians OF Peru more than l,S00 years
ago. They are known as pre-Columoian
Indians and more than 5 900 OF their skulls
have been collected by Dr.. A. Hadlicka,
curator of the division Of physical an
ihropology of the National Museum.
Many OF these relics are now on exhioi-
ton at the San Diego Exposition. Within
the last weeks the museum has loaned
to the exhibit priceless collection OF Fl
of the actual surgical instruments used
by the Peruvian prehistoric doctors in
the operation of trepanning..
"The evidence of trepanning skill
among the earliest Indians is shown by
this exhibition the firsttime. e."Dr. Thomp-
son said. The surgical instruments"
consist OF sharpened flints of various
shapes and sizes. and the skulls OF the
collection show that the first medicine
men" were no mean surgeons.
Primitive people are careful obseV-
ers OF nature" DR.. Thompson says in
his paper, land il IS 10 this that they owe
their skill in hunting and woodcrat.
These ancient Peruvian Indians observed
that once in a while warriors who had
received a serious injury OF the head re-
covered instead OF dying. In the course
of time they learned that these recoveries
were due 10 one OF several causes.
"The skull in the living subject is very
resilient, and il may have happened oc-
caSionally that when piece oil the Skull
wall was displaced or dented, thus COM
pressing the brain. this offending frag-
ment suddenly sprang back into place,
thereby relieving the symptoms and at
fording the patient chance to recover.
Among primitive peoples some very curl
Gus ceremonial rites take place over the
dying. These rites at times assume the
character OF a vigorous massage OF the
body, and they even tapped the head OF
the dying man with baton. This latter
action might readily result in lucky re-
pair OF the broken skull.
"Then, again, after warrior had laid
unconscious for many days, the splintered
and broken bits OF bone might recross
and be sloughed off al the bottom OF an
open sore. This also might have resulted
in recovery.
"When the medicine men had observed
these phenomena few times their next
logical step would be to attempt TO assist
nature in her processes OF restoration.
They did this by prying the displaced
fragments into place and by digging out,
often with their finger tips, splintered
bits OF bone. Another OF their observa-
tions was that a wound with sharp, clean
cut edges would heal much more rapidly
than one with rough or jagged contour.
"The result OF their observations was
that they attempted TO convert the rough.
irregular gashes in the skull into smooth,
clean-cut surgical wounds. This was
usually done by seraping the edges OF
the break with the sharpened ilints.
They further advanced in the science
Of physical diagnosis 10 the point OF OBJ
serving that now and then warrior died
from a really small fracture OF the skull.
This led them TO operate quickly and
some Of the slender pieces OF sharpened
flint may have been used to raise The
crushed portion OF the skull afrer an In
cision had been made"