- Reported by Anadolu Agency
The skull on which the first brain surgery performed and found during the 1989 excavation at Aşıklı Höyük in Aksaray will be reanimated.
Aşıklı Höyük, located in the village of Kızılkaya in Gülağaç district, is known as the first village of Central Anatolia and Cappadocia with its 10,400-year history.
Aşıklı Höyük, hosted many firsts in history, such as first agricultural experiments and domestication of sheep and goats.
The skull on which the first brain surgery was performed and is of great importance in medical history, is currently on display at The Aksaray Museum, will be reanimated.
“WE WILL REANIMATE A 25 YEARS OLD WOMAN”
Aksaray Museum Director Yusuf Altın told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the skull found during the excavations has two holes on it and it is the first skull surgery in history.
Altın pointed out that 9,500 years ago, the average age of people was 30-35 years and continued as follows:
“From the examinations conducted on the skull, scientists have found out that the woman who was operated on lived for ten days after the procedure. The Aksaray Municipality began reanimation work on the skull displayed at the Aksaray Museum after receiving approval from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. We performed a 3D scan on the skull. We will build two reanimated skulls and they will be on display at The Aksaray Science Center and our museum. The reanimation Project will be carried out in Germany. After they are completed, we will bring them back and showcase them to our people. We will portray a 25-year-old woman from 9,500 years ago and show them to our visitors. Wax will be used for the revival process”.
Prof. Dr. Mihriban Özbaşaran, lecturer at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Letters, Department of Prehistoric Archeology and head of the excavations at Aşıklı Höyük, reminded that the excavations at Aşıklı Höyük began in 1989.
Özbaşaran explained that the work began as a rescue excavation and said, “The excavations have continued uninterruptedly since then. If we look at the lifeway in Central Anatolia today, it is characterized by agriculture and animal husbandry. We observe the earliest of these practices at Aşıklı: the first people engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. The first settlement begins in 8400 BC. We know Aşıklı Höyük was the first village, where earliest agricultural experiments took place and sheep and goats were domesticated.”
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Özbaşaran said that in addition to these firsts, a surgical procedure that could be considered an operation was also performed on the skull of a 25-year-old woman from the settlement.
SHE WAS FOUND BURIED WITH HER BABY
Özbaşaran indicated that the woman to whom the skull belonged was buried with her baby and said:
“During the investigation at Hacettepe University, it was found that the skull was purposely drilled and the procedure was performed with utmost care. It turned out that this was an operation done with obsidian drills. After the hole was drilled, the cells in the skull regenerated. So it seems that the woman lived after the procedure for some time. Aşıklı Höyük is of great importance to medical history. A new study of the skull is in the works. We will animate it in 3D. We are looking forward to the results of the project and bringing this woman back to life. We will meet a woman from Aşıklı. We are thrilled about it.”