The trepanned skull from Comiso (Ragusa): Trauma, surgery, and care in Modern Age Sicily

Abstract

Trepanation, or the removal of a bony piece from the cranial vault, has been widely investigated by both paleopathologists and medical historians. The aim of this report is to employ a paleoradiological approach to complement a macroscopic inspection of the lesions present in a historic case of trepanation from Sicily, to obtain a better understanding of the consequences of the trauma the subject sustained during life, as well as create a permanent, digital record of this unique osteo-archaeological finding for future research.