Ancient skull draws great interest at museum

AKSARAY – DHA

A skull, which was unearthed in the 10,000 year-old settlement of Aşıklı Mound in Cappadocia and on which the first brain surgery in history was carried out, is being displayed at the Azmi National Scientific and Industrial Museum in the Cappadocia region.

“We see that the brain operation, thought to have been performed on pharaohs in Egypt, was performed much earlier at Aşıklı Mound,” said museum director Mustafa Fırat Gül. 

A hole made with obsidian stone in the skull is considered the world’s oldest brain operation. It is believed it was the skull of a nearly 25-year-old woman, and after the operation she lived for about 10 days. 

“Aşıklı Mound is one of the oldest settlements in Turkey. At the same time, it is the oldest village in Cappadocia and Central Anatolia. Many firsts in agriculture and husbandry have been carried out there. Excavations have been ongoing there for a long time with professor Mihriban Özbaşaran’s teams and foreign participants. We have very original information found by them. The skull is the most important contribution of this place to literature. It is now open to visitors at the Aksaray Museum,” Gül said.