An example of cranial trepanation dating to the Middle Bronze Age from Ebla, Syria.

This paper regards the discovery of a trepanated skull dating back to the end of the Middle Bronze Age II (1650-1600 B.C.). The skull was found in a funeral pit in the Syrian city of Ebla. A rectangular area of the frontal bone measuring approximately 50 by 45 mm was purposely surgically removed through the use of a blade. Deposition of new bone indicates that the subject survived for a long period after the surgery. This skull represents one of the oldest cases of trepanation with a quadrilateral form of incision found in the Near East.