Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (1) 2014

Annotation:  The Pleistocene Peopling of the North: Paleolithic Milestones and Thresholds Horizons in Northern Eu The Levallois Mousterian Assemblages of Sindh (Pakistan) and Their Relations with the Middle Paleol Chronology of the Uralian Neolithic The Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture in the Irtysh Forest-Steppe, Western Siberia An Experimental Study of Percussion Technologies in the Minusinsk Basin: Percussion and Tool Types Prehistoric Wars and the Origin of Military Power (Based on Archaeological and Historical- Ethnolog Anthropomorphic Wooden Figures from the Trans-Urals Images on Metal Ware: The Graphic Art of Northwestern Siberia and the Cis-Urals Seventeenth Century Moscow Tiles in Russia Female Ornaments of the Xiongnu-Xianbei Age from Ulug-Choltukh, the Edigan River Valley, Gorny Alta Kayakers Near Scotland’s Northern Shores at the Turn of the 17th–18th Centuries: Main Theories of O Bichura Village (Transbaikalia): Foundation and Population Growth (18th–Late 20th Century) Trepanation Among the Early Nomads of Gorny Altai: A Multidisciplinary Study On the Biological Distinctness of the Pit-Grave (Yamnaya) People in the Northwestern Caspian: Crania   

Trepanation Among the Early Nomads of Gorny Altai: A Multidisciplinary Study

T.A. Chikisheva, A.V. Zubova, A.L. Krivoshapkin, V.P. Kurbatov, P.V. Volkov, and A.T. Titov.

Three trepanned crania from 4th–3rd century BC low-ranking burials in Gorny Altai are described. The probable motives behind such operations are discussed, their effi ciency is assessed, and techniques are reconstructed using optical macroscopic examination, multi-slice computed tomography, X-ray fl uorescence, and mass spectrometry of bone tissue. Trepanations were apparently medical rather than ritual. Our data support the idea that the 4th–3rd century BC inhabitants of the Altai-Sayan Highlands had enough knowledge and skills to perform complex cranial surgery. Because the instruments were made of tin bronze, and the Minusinsk Basin was the only place in southern Siberia where such bronze was smelted (by the Saragash people), at least two successful trepanations were probably performed by immigrants from that region.

Keywords: Trepanation, neurosurgery, Early Iron Age, Scythian period, Gorny Altai, Pazyryk culture, Minusinsk Basin, Tagar Culture, X-ray fl uorescence analysis, mass-spectrometric analysis, traceological analysis.