Practice of Trephination in Georgia

Abstract

In the craniological collections obtained in the territory of Georgia (stored in TSU and the State Museum) there are 15 skulls on which trephination was carried out. Geographically, trepanned skulls were found mainly in Eastern Georgia, and the practice was widespread in lowland, foothill, and mountainous regions. The oldest trepanned skull dates back to the 11^th-9^th centuries BC, and most of the material comes from the High Middle Ages. The culture and economy of Georgia flourished during this period, which influenced the development of medicine as well. Cases of trephination were identified both in large urban settlements and in small villages and monastic centers, which confirms the spread of trephination and its accessibility to the population of various social strata.

A complex research determined that of the trepanned individuals discovered in Georgia, 13 underwent craniotomy for medical purposes and only 2 for ritual ones. The conclusion is corroborated by the fact that most of the material was found in burials of the Christian era. When studying the age-sex structure of the trepanned group, it turned out that craniotomies were performed almost equally in individuals of both sexes, with no identified cases of surgical intervention on the skulls of children or adolescents.

Trephination operations were carried out on the frontal and parietal bones and at the intersection of these bones. Most of the operations were performed on the parietal bone (10 cases, six of them on the left side, 3 on the right one, and 1 on the sagittal suture), 3 on the frontal bone (all on the left side) and one at the intersection of the frontal and parietal bones. The operations were carried out mainly for therapeutic purposes, including due to injuries.

During trephination operations, various techniques and their combinations were used, such as scraping, drilling and cutting. The shapes of the burr holes are diverse: boat-like, oval, round, rectangular, elliptical, etc. The sizes of the holes vary over a wide range. It is important to continue the search and comprehensive study of trepanned material and expand the chronological framework and geography of research to collect statistically reliable data.