Risky skull surgery done for ritual reasons 6,000 years ago
Bone regrowth shows most survived operation to cut back-of-the-head holes
![trepanated skull](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/042916_bb_skull-ritual.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
RITUAL CUT An almost 6,000-year-old human skull from southern Russia contains a large opening at the back of the head created by cutting away bone with a sharp instrument. Researchers suspect many skull surgeries in southern Russia at that time were performed for ritual, not medical, reasons.
J. Gresky