Saed News: The surgically treated skull of a 13-year-old girl, discovered at the archaeological site of Shahr-e Sukhteh, is one of the most important findings by archaeologists in the field of medical history. / Source: Mehr News Agency
According to the History section of Saed News, quoting Mehr News Agency, archaeologists at Shahr-e Sukhteh—one of the most important archaeological sites in the Sistan and Baluchestan province—during excavations in 1977 (1356 in the Iranian calendar) discovered a mass grave dating back about 4,800 years ago. Among the skeletal remains of 13 buried individuals, they found the skull of a young person whose right side had a deep triangular cut. Based on initial observations by archaeologists and subsequent anthropological studies, this was identified as evidence of a surgical operation performed to treat hydrocephalus.
Initial examinations estimated the skull belonged to an 18-year-old girl and showed a fracture in the bones near the lower root of the right jaw. Upon reexamination and revision, the definite age was determined to be between 12 and 14 years old, with a margin of about 6 to 9 months.
The skull in question was unusually large, mainly due to the excessive enlargement of its central part and the parietal bones on both sides. A horizontal view revealed that the left posterior part of the skull was larger than the right, while the front right portion was more prominent than the left. Therefore, her face appeared normal, but she had an extraordinarily large skull despite having a normal height.
The surgically treated skull discovered at Shahr-e Sukhteh is one of the most significant archaeological finds in the history of medicine. The skull belonged to a young girl aged about 12 to 13 years, and the doctors of Shahr-e Sukhteh had performed surgery on her. Remarkably, the patient survived for at least several months after the operation before passing away. Archaeologists still do not know the cause of her death and have not been able to answer whether she died from an infection following the surgery or due to another reason.
However, by studying other skeletons buried in the Shahr-e Sukhteh cemetery, archaeologists concluded that the average age of women in that society was around 26 years based on tests on 110 skeletons, ranging from 20 to 25 years. Therefore, the death of this individual at age 13 to 14 was not considered unusual in that community.
Nevertheless, the knowledge of the doctors in Shahr-e Sukhteh about this disease, its causes, and treatment methods 5,000 years ago is one of the marvels of Iranian medical history. Although this skull was found in Shahr-e Sukhteh and should ideally be housed in a museum in Sistan and Baluchestan province, it is currently held by the Tehran Museum of Medical History and is displayed in one of its exhibition cases.
