The Dawn of Surgery: An Unusual Case of Cranial Manipulation from Middle Bronze Age Qatna (Central Syria)

In this paper we describe a case of cranial manipulation from the Middle Bronze Age necropolis excavated at Mishrifeh, ancient Qatna (Syria). On the parietal and occipital bones of the cranial vault of an adult male found in a pit burial, numerous rectilinear cutmarks are visible, with microstriae along the bases and sides of the kerfs. These marks seem to result from the use of two different types of metal tool – and might be interpreted as evidence that training in surgical practice took place in this Syrian regional state capital during the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE.