Experts from a US museum believe it could be one of the oldest examples of advanced surgery. The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma said the skull is reported to have been that of a man who was injured in battle before undergoing surgery to implant a piece of metal in his head to repair a fracture.

  • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
    248·
    11 months ago

    Is there more info?

    My first thought is why did they discount the idea from movies of someone being executed painfully by having molten metal poured on their head?

    • SonnyVabitch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      79·
      11 months ago

      They discounted the idea because

      Surprising as it may seem, the patient survived the procedure, as evidenced by the fact that bone surrounding it fused together.

      This rarely happens when they pour molten metal on the head, according to medical experts.

      (source: Snopes)

      • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        20·
        11 months ago

        I am not a medical expert but I concur that having molten metal poured over your head and having signs of healing would have very little correlation

      • poppy@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        Thanks for the link, it also answered my question about the shape of the skull.

        Yes, this is a real human skull that is thousands of years old. Elongation was achieved through head binding beginning at a very young age. It was typically practiced to convey social status by various cultures.

      • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Thanks! I wasn’t seriously considering that it may have happened, just reminded me of movies (as I mentioned) and was keen to read more as no source was linked.

    • CookieMonsterDebate@lemmy.worldEnglish
      521·
      10 months ago

      I’m no expert, but my first thought is, molten metal is so hot it would probably do more damage than it would fix. Also, the shape is quite neat/precise, rarely the case when pouring a liquid on a curved surface. There doesn’t seem to be any pooling in the cracks and depressions. The edges are very clean.

      Furthermore, and to me, most convincingly, it looks like it’s been hammered. There are no bubbles, thickness looks regular, the surface looks like it has been worked on, there are even what seem to be folds, to adapt the shape to the wound.

      The bones have fused back together, which shows that there was healing, which takes time. So that indicates that the person survived the wound (and the procedure).

      So that’s what I would guess based on those photos.

      I’m very impressed it worked. Look at the wound. Someone seems to have had their skull crushed in by a big blunt object, rock or hammer or whatever. I wouldn’t really expect anyone to survive that, even with modern medical abilities.

      Edit : I think I sort of misread your question. But either way, the info above still stands.

      I would add, re: the execution idea. In most early civilizations, metal is a rare resource. Why waste it one someone you want to kill?

    • Alexstarfire@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      11 months ago

      Looks like it covers the damaged part of the skull, for one. If it was for execution it is unlikely it’d just cover that spot. It’s not exactly a lot if you’re just trying to execute someone. Not that I’d want any amount poured on me.

      • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        But there was no link to any article so who are these experts? I wasn’t seriously suggesting they had molten metal poured on them, it was just my dumb way of asking for more info.