Trepanation

This is a fascinating skull from ~3500BC from a female girl who survived trepanation, shown at the Natural History Museum, Lausanne. Trepanation is the practice of drilling a hole into the skull, presumably to relieve pressure. Evidence of trepanation has been found in prehistoric human remains, possibly to cure seizures, migraines, and head trauma. Furthermore, there is evidence that people to whom this has been done survived the procedure. Who knew one of the oldest surgical practices would involve the skull?

Image shown under CeCILL license, from Wikipedia.