North America’s oldest skull surgery dates to at least 3,000 years ago
Bone regrowth suggests a man survived having a hole scraped out of his forehead
![illustration of an ancient trepanation surgery](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/033022_BB_trepanation_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
The oldest known instance of skull surgery in North America, perhaps resembling the scene illustrated here, occurred between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago in what's now Alabama, a new study suggests.
JOSE ANTONIO PENAS/Science Source