OPERATION ON HEAD

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LX, Issue 16, 28 February 1939, Page 1

OPERATION ON HEAD

EVIDENCE FOUND ON PRE-HIS-

TORIC SKUW,

HIGH DEGREE OF SKILL

INDICATED

(From The Guardian's London

Correspondent)

LONDON, February 4

The skull of a pre-historic man, recently found in England, and estimated to be 4000 years old, bears evidence of the first known operation on the brain.

With flints as "knives" the ancient Briton who acted as surgeon, removed a piece of the man's skull and then put it back again with a skill which would approach that of a modern surgeon. His handiwork will be on view at the Royal College of Surgeons, and photographs of it were shown at the Dorset County Museum this week. The "trepanned" skull was dug up on Crichel Down, Dorset, which is to become an R.A.F. bombing range. It was found by Mr and Mrs Stuart Piggott, who are excavating the site before the R.A.F. taks over.

Mr Piggott said this week that a circular piece of bone 11" inches across had been removed and replaced in the operation. The patient may have suffered either from chonic headaches or acted oddly and his people thought the only thing to do was to let out the devil that was worrying him, so they made a hole in his skull," said Mr Piggott.

Two 13,000-ton liners are to be added to the round-the-world service, maintained by the Japanese shipping company, Osaka Shosen Kaisha. There are now 71 proficiency badges for Scouts, three new ones added this year being for backwoodsmen, motor mechanics, and rabbitkeepers.