Trephination of the living human skull in prehistoric times / [Thomas Wilson Parry].

  • Parry, T. Wilson (Thomas Wilson), 1866-1945.
Date:
[1923]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Trephination of the living human skull in prehistoric times / [Thomas Wilson Parry]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    NEOLITHIC MAN AND THE PENETRATION OF THE LIVING HUMAN SKULL. [Dr. Parry said that he would relate briefly the results obtained by a series of experiments under¬ taken on skulls (recent and dry) for the purpose of discovering the methods employed by Neolithic man, when operating upon the living human being, with implements fashioned out of the most primitive materials. In connexion with the nomenclature of operations performed in the late Neolithic period, he said that the words “ trephining ” or “ trephination ” “ trepanning ” or “ trepanation,” were used wholly oblivious of the fact that these terms imply that the operation of making a hole in the skull was performed by a metal instrument, a “ trephine ” or a “ trepan,” as the case might be, whereas in Neolithic times this operation was carried out many centuries before iron was discovered. He thought that a dis¬ tinctive name should be employed so that the reader would understand readily when the primitive operation was under discussion. The word “ cranio- trypesis,” being the Greek equivalent for simply making a hole in the cranium without specifying by what manner, has been coined in America, but the lecturer had come to prefer the word “ holing ” as being the simplest, clearest, and best English repre¬ sentation of this elemental procedure. Dr. Parry then showed slides illustrating “ some of the creations and customs of late Neolithic man, in order to catch a breath of the atmosphere of his culture and life.” The slides represented (1) exqui¬ sitely worked arrow-heads, most of them finely barbed ; (2) a flint dagger, two beautifully made saws, a sickle, and a chisel; (3) a finely shaped round- bottomed bowl, dredged from the Thames at Hedsor, 7 in. wide by 5 in. high, twisted sinew markings ; (4), (5), (6) stone avenues at Carnac in Brittany, nearer view, and close up ; (7), (8) Stonehenge (reconstructed), and as it is now ; (9) burial in a long barrow (reconstructed) ; (10) a two-chambered tumulus (Denmark) ; (11) interior of a long barrow (W. Kennet, Avebury) ; (12) Trevethy Cromlech (near Liskeard, Cornwall) ; (13) Dolmen des Mar- chands, Lockmariaquer, Carnac ; (14) section and plan of Dolmen des Marchands ; (15) end-stone of the same dolmen. He continued :] Reasons for the Primitive Operations. Why did Neolithic man, even when surgery was in such a primitive condition, feel compelled to attempt so momentous an operation ? One can tell by the study of a series of specimens of Neolithic man’s handiwork that the operator did not approach
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