Medicine in Antiquity: The Earliest Identified Ear Surgery

 

Figure 1: El Pendón site, located in northern Spain

 

Humans have been performing and perfecting various technological advancements for millennia.  Be it building monumental structures, creating works of art, or intentionally mummifying the dead there have been few limits placed on the human imagination and the ingenuity that springs from it.  Today’s post features another example of early inventiveness: evidence of the world’s oldest ear surgery.

 

The discovery was made at the El Pendón site, located in northern Spain (Figure 1).  Excavations at the site began in 2016, and it was realized that the site was used for as a burial site between 3,800 and 3,000 B.C.  A large limestone and soil structure was the interment site for the deceased.  As new individuals were laid to rest within the structure previously interred individuals were moved to other parts of the structure, leading to the comingling of disarticulated remains. 

 

Various skeletal elements were recovered for later analysis.  It was a team of archaeologists from the University of Valladolid in Spain and the Spanish National Research Council in Italy who in 2018 began their analyses of some of the skeletal remains, leading to a remarkable and surprising discovery.  While examining the skull of an elderly woman they noticed man-made perforations created through intentional circular, abrasive drilling around her left and right ear canals.  Further analysis of the ear canals and surround bone demonstrated that the woman had suffered several ear infections or more serious pathological conditions, which may have led her to seek relief through a trephining procedure.  Further analysis demonstrated that the surgeries occurred within a short period of time from one another, although it was unclear if lapsed time was days or months.  Remarkably, the woman survived both painful procedures.

 

Given the age of the site (as it was used in the 4^th century B.C.) and the evidence of intentional manipulation of the woman’s ear canals it was concluded that this is the first evidenced ear surgery in the world.  Unfortunately, it is unclear how specifically the surgery took place.  There is no solid evidence that any painkillers were used, and while flint blades were found adjacent to the skull it is unclear if they were used in the procedure.  One of the blades had evidence of being used to cut bone, but there was insufficient evidence to link that blade to the woman’s skeletal remains.  Regardless, this discovery demonstrates the resourcefulness of humans, as well as the long history of medical interventions that existed among modern humans.

 

Bibliography

Díaz-Navarro, S., Tejedor-Rodríguez, C., Arcusa-Magallón, H. et al. The first otologic surgery in a    skull from El Pendón site (Reinoso, Northern Spain). Sci Rep 12, 2537 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06223-6

Recker, J. (2022, February 24). 5,300-Year-Old Skull Offers Earliest Known Evidence of Ear Surgery. Smithsonian Magazine.

Yirka, B. (2022, February 23). Earliest evidence of ear surgery 5,300 years ago. Phys.org.