Evidence of a neck brain surgery

Archaeologists claim to have discovered evidence of a brain surgery done nearly 1,800 years ago on a young woman's body - the victim died shortly after the operation.

The archaeological excavator Ioannis Graikos said the woman's remains were discovered during the rescue operation last year in Veria, a town about 75 km west of Thessaloniki.'We think this case is a complicated surgery that only skilled doctors and professionals can perform.'

The bone specialist who researched this finding said the remains were a woman not older than 25, suffering a serious blow to the top of her head and surgery as an attempt to save her life. He said the shape of a fairly obvious hole in her skull was a sign of a complicated surgery. Graikos said: ' She may not have survived the surgery because the wound is too wide, and there is no sign of recovery around the edge of the incision .'

According to Simon Mays, a human remains expert at the British Heritage Agency, an advisory body for the British government said that the discovery in Veria was similar to other discoveries in many parts of the Roman Empire. before.'The type of surgery that has been around for a long time, the first evidence that dates back to about 5,000 years ago in Europe.'

In the first cases, the hole was made coarser by crushing the bone gradually around the edge of the wound, but in Roman times the tool became more refined.

Mays said: 'We know that brain surgery was done during the Roman Empire and that some ancient Roman texts have quite elaborate instructions on how to proceed with this type of surgery. That fits what we know about Roman surgery. '

Graikos revealed the discovery of complex social and medical evidence in Vieria in the 3rd century AD - Roman reign, one of Greece's major population centers and the capital. of the union of Macedonian cities.

The city once existed with large public buildings, artists' workshops and a carefully planned road system. The collapse of the city may have been due to the barbaric invasions from the north, shortly after 250 AD.

The tomb contains nothing but the remains, one of the tombs discovered in two separate cemeteries, dating from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD.

Graikos said more ancient tombs include wide arched structures located underground with two separate rooms and decorated entrances. Christian tombs are much simpler. The tombs contain gold and bronze jewelry, pottery, small glass bottles containing perfume and cosmetics, coins and weapons.

The remains of a young woman in a tomb dating back to the 3rd century AD in Veria, northern Greece.Archaeologists believe that a large hole in the front of the skull, above the eye, is the result of a brain surgery that clearly failed to be performed 1,800 years ago.Although documents referring to such complicated surgeries exist, the discovery of surgical skulls is not common in Greece.(Photo: AP)