‘A milestone in the history of medicine’: ancient Egyptian skull shows possible signs of early cancer surgery
The Art Newspaper
May 29, 2024
© Photographs by Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024
Tiny cut marks found on lesions inside the skull suggest that physicians working thousands of years ago may have operated on tumours.
Researchers studying a 4,500-year-old ancient Egyptian skull have identified what might be an early case of cancer surgery.
Held in the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection, the skull bears tiny cut marks, visible under microscope, which indicate that the Egyptians operated on tumours or examined them after the person’s death.
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