Submitted by coldrum --
New Scientist: You have found what appear to be scalpels.
Önder Bilgi: That's right. We have just found two cutting blades made of obsidian, a volcanic glass that forms a sharp edge when it fractures. The obsidian must have been imported from another region as there is no natural source of it in the area. We found the blades next to a circular clay platform that may have been used for religious ceremonies. The blades are double-sided, about 4 centimetres long, and very, very sharp. They would still cut you today.
What makes you think they were used for surgery?
We have found traces of cuts on skulls in a nearby graveyard. Out of around 700 skulls, 14 have these marks. They could only have been cut with a very sharp tool. At this time, 4000 years ago or more, it could only have been an obsidian blade. The cut marks show that a blade was used to make a rectangular opening all the way through the skull. We know that patients lived at least two to three years after the surgery, because the skull has tried to close the wound.
Have you uncovered any clues to why this surgery was performed?
There seem to be three main reasons. The first is to relieve the pressure of a brain haemorrhage; we found traces of blood on the inside of some of the skulls. The second is to treat patients with brain cancer, as we can see pressure traces from the cancer inside some of the skulls. And the final reason was to treat head injuries, which seem to have been quite common. The people of Ikiztepe got their copper from mines in the local mountains, and we think they had to fight other local people for access to it.
Are there any other examples of such early skull surgery?
A few skulls with cut marks have been found at other Bronze Age sites in this region, but other than these I have not found any parallel. There is a Neolithic skull found at a site in central Anatolia with a hole drilled into it. But the surgeons at Ikiztepe were cutting a rectangular opening. It is a much more sophisticated technique.
What kind of items have you unearthed?
As well as the houses we have found mainly metal objects, such as weapons, tools, jewellery and religious symbols. The inhabitants were skilled at metallurgy, unusually so for the period.
You have been digging at the site for 37 years. Why has it taken so long?
Wooden architecture is much more difficult to excavate than stone architecture. It is difficult to locate it in the soil. We have to use very small tools, like brushes and spatulas. But we will continue to dig here until we reach virgin soil.
Source: New Scientist.
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