Prehistoric trepanation in the Iberian Peninsula: A new case from the province of Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain)

Tiago Pedro Ferreira Tomé

doi:10.14195/2182-7982_32_4

Autores

Tiago Pedro Ferreira Tomé Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia - Universidade Federal do Pará Centro de Investigação em Antropologia e Saúde, Departamento de Ciências da Vida - Universidade de Coimbra Grupo de Quaternário e Pré-História, Centro de Geociências/Instituto Terra e Memória, Universidade de Coimbra/Instituto Politécnico de Tomar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/2182-7982_32_4

Palavras-chave:

Biological Anthropology, Prehistory

Resumo

Trepanation is a recurrent subject in the literature, with the earliest known examples of this surgical procedure belonging to the Mesolithic/Neolithic periods. The Iberian Peninsula is no exception to this tendency, where most of the known trepanation cases were found in coastal areas.

We present one skull with a lesion/trauma compatible with a trepanation on the right parietal bone, recovered from a cave located in southern Badajoz province, inland Spain, Cueva de los Postes. This is the first reported case of a prehistoric trepanation in this region. A brief comparative analysis with other known Iberian prehistoric trepanations is included, regarding location of the lesions and method of trepanation selected to the procedure.