25 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

An 8,500-year-old trepanned skull discovered in Çatalhöyük

Traces of trepanation (skull drilling operation) were found on a skull found in the 9,000-year-old Çatalhöyük, near the modern city of Konya in central Turkey.

Millennia before the rise of Mesopotamian cities to the south, the proto-city Çatalhöyük thrived in central Anatolia. Sprawled over 34 acres and home to as many as 8,000 people, it was the metropolis of its day. People lived in this community continuously for almost 2,000 years.

In their statement to the Anadolu Agency (AA), archaeologists said that they came across an interesting grave containing 7 individuals during the excavations last year.

During the studies carried out on human skeletons excavated on the floor of a house, a hole with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters was found on the skull bones of a young male individual.

Çatalhöyük Excavation head and Anadolu University Faculty Member Associate Professor Ali Umut Türkcan said in his statement;

“There has been a settlement throughout 16 stratifications. It is a unique region in the world. It is a settlement where the culture progressed very slowly and was abandoned. Our work continues especially in the neighborhood we found on the long street next to the exhibition area, which we call ‘northern Korugan’. We opened a new area towards the slope of the settlement. While opening that area, we found the second neighborhood. We identified a large building in the new area. We concentrated the work on the building of approximately 80 square meters, with 5 chambers. Last year, we came across a grave covered with a vulture’s claw in a house here. The anthropologists of the excavation made detailed examinations of the grave containing 7 individuals. A young man “The drilling process in the individual’s skull caught our attention. In Çatalhöyük, we saw a clear example of trepanation for the first time.”

Photo: AA

Türkcan stated that the academic study on the findings will be shared with the public soon.

The study was carried out by Professor Handan Üstündağ from Anadolu University, Professor Başak Boz from Trakya University, Professor Arzu Demirel from Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, and graduate student archaeologist Donald Kale.

Anadolu University Archeology Department faculty member Professor Handan Üstündağ, a member of the anthropology team of the excavation, said:

“A round piece of bone was removed from the side of the skull through a circular incision about 2.5 centimeters in diameter. We found many incision marks indicating that they had grazed the scalp during this process. We think this was a trepanation for therapeutic purposes. We identified this skeleton as belonging to a young male aged 18-19. There is no indication that the individual lived after this operation. Because there was no sign of healing in the bone tissue. When this operation was performed, this person was either dying or already dead.”

Photo: AA

Üstündağ stated that the practice of trepanation is known to have been used in the past for medical treatment and that trepanation is a method used in the treatment of headaches, brain hemorrhage, cleaning of broken bone fragments and blood after head trauma, fluid accumulation in the brain, and mental disorders.

Emphasizing that there are many examples of trepanation application in excavations in Anatolia, Üstündağ concluded his words as follows:

“The example we found in Çatalhöyük is one of the oldest. Examples of practices that are at least 1000 years older than Çatalhöyük were found in the excavations of Aşıklı Höyük, located near Kızılkaya village in Aksaray, and Çayönü Mound, in Ergani district of Diyarbakır. At Çatalhöyük, we discovered the first conclusive example of trepanation.

 “Our find is one of the oldest examples in Anatolia and differs from other examples from the same period in terms of the size of the hole opened. Our finding shows that people who lived 8,500 years ago tried to treat diseases, relieve the pain or suffering of their relatives, and prevent deaths. This finding is also remarkable in terms of medical history.”

Cover Photo: AA

Related Articles

Archaeologists unearth mosaic floors in the ruins of a building they believe is the lost Church of the Apostles

23 October 2021

23 October 2021

In the historical village of Bethsaida on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists discovered mosaic floors in the...

Largest Headhunting Massacre of Women and Children in Neolithic China

12 November 2023

12 November 2023

A new study discovers that ancient headless skeletons discovered in mass graves in China are the remains of victims who...

Evidence of a 1500-year-old Byzantine church found on the beach of Ashdod, Israel

22 February 2022

22 February 2022

Recent rain in Israel has unearthed the remains of a marble pillar dating to around 1,500 years ago on a...

Discovery of immense 4,000-year-old fortifications surrounding the Khaybar Oasis, one of the longest-known Oasis

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Archaeologists have recently made a groundbreaking discovery in northwestern Arabia, unearthing immense fortifications that date back an astonishing 4,000 years....

A cemetery belonging to 54 children was found during the excavation in the old quarry in Diyarbakır, Türkiye

4 January 2024

4 January 2024

During the archaeological excavation carried out in the area considered to be an old quarry in the Kulp district of...

Archaeologists found three large shipwrecks, 139 Viking Graves, and a ship-shaped mound in Sweden

21 October 2024

21 October 2024

Exciting discoveries in Sweden! Archaeologists were preparing to investigate a Stone Age settlement outside Varberg. But they came across a...

Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of British Rule in Florida

29 March 2025

29 March 2025

A recent archaeological excavation in St. Augustine, Florida, has revealed a British redoubt dating back to 1781, offering valuable insight...

The earliest Buddha statues in China found in northwestern Shaanxi

10 December 2021

10 December 2021

The two copper-tin-lead alloy Buddha statues discovered in northwestern Shaanxi Province became the earliest Buddha statues of this kind unearthed...

Near Prague, a Mysterious 7,000-Year-Old Circular Structure

15 September 2022

15 September 2022

Archaeologists are investigating a 7,000-year-old so-called roundel (known as ‘rondely’ in Czech), and monumental structure located in the Vinoř district...

In Moravia, archaeologists discover divine thrones, thousands of artifacts and a new settlement

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

During a four-year dig in the Moravian city (Czech Republic) of Perov, rare gems, mysterious burial places, and divine thrones...

‘Astonishingly Preserved’ Ancient Roman Well Found in Cambridgeshire was An Engineering Failure

22 August 2024

22 August 2024

In an excavation at the site of future highway improvements in Cambridgeshire, the team from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)...

Fingerprints Found on Orkney Pottery Belong to Young Men

14 June 2021

14 June 2021

Details of the two young guys whose fingerprints were discovered on a fragment of a clay pot dating back over...

Archaeologists discover one of the largest Phallus Relief Carving of ancient Rome

28 August 2022

28 August 2022

According to an announcement by the region’s local history museum, a large Roman-era relief carving of a phallus has been...

Newly Discovered Two Fortress Settlements and a New Type of Open-Air Temple in Eastern Anatolia Region of Türkiye

26 March 2024

26 March 2024

Two fortress settlements and two new open-air temples were discovered during a survey in Tunceli province in the Eastern Anatolia...

1,500-Year-Old Stained Glass and Mosaics Discovered at Harran Cathedral Excavation in Türkiye

7 February 2025

7 February 2025

Recent excavations at the historic Harran archaeological site, which is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List, have yielded rare...