Saturday, May 13, 2006
Trephanation in the Canary Islands
BoingBoing point out that there is this, circa 1750, Trephanation kit on eBay. No, I'm not suggesting that you might want to go and bid on it, but it did remind me that this "boring" (sic) medical procedure was carried out in Tenerife by the Guanche natives.
What is Trephination? It's an ancient surgical procedure where a hole is drilled in the skull. Got a bit of headache? Forget the aspirins mate, get out the Black & Decker and release the "demon"! No, please don't try this at home children!
This article on Healing Arts Through the Ages, explains, "Perhaps the oldest form of medical treatment is trephination. Trephined human skull fossils date as far back as 10,000 years to the people of the European Neolithic era. It has also been practiced in the Canary Islands, North Africa, Russia, and in the New World before the discovery of the Americas." And continues:
"Some show no signs of healing, indicating the death of the patient during or shortly after the operation, but many show extensive healing of the bone which means that the patient lived for many years after the surgery."
You can, that is if you wish, see Guanche skulls on which the procedure has been carried out in the museum in Santa Cruz. When I saw them they were in small, dark rooms in the back of the Cabildo building. Rows and rows of skulls were around the sides of the back room and the "prize exhibits" - the trephined skulls - were in other cabinets, all labelled with explanations. What struck me most was the fact that some of them had shown signs of healing and bone growth after the operation, meaning that the patients/victims lived.
It was not an exhibit for the squeamish. And another reason I will NEVER forget the visit is because, while I was in the room, on my own, the museum guard decided to play a practical joke on me and switch off the light!
They will, along with the Guanche mummies, have been moved to the Museum of Man and Nature now. The Tenerife Cabildo, or island government, created the Tenerife Museum of Natural Sciences and the Tenerife Archaeology Museum in the 1950s. These two museums were merged together with the Canary Island Institute of Bio-anthropology, to create the modern Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (Museum of Man and Nature), which is now housed in the Antiguo Hospital Civil in Santa Cruz. Details and times here.
This may be too much detail for most, but there are numerous interesting references for those fascinated by anthropology in this article, Trepanation of The Skull by The Medicine-Men Of Primitive Cultures, With Particular Reference To Present-day Native East African Practice.
Did they say present-day? Maybe the kit above will find an eager buyer!
