Could a hole in your head really relieve a headache? I'm Adam from Ripley's.com and this is your Weird Minute. Trepanation is the practice of drilling, cutting, boring, chiseling, or scraping into the human skull. It's a practice that dates back to the earliest humans. with examples found from 10,000 BC. Despite being widespread and culturally common, however, we're not always sure why people did it. For a long time, modern man has thought this was a rudimentary surgical practice.
used to relieve migraines or treat neurological disorders. Anthropologist Paul Broker claimed he had discovered skulls in Peru with holes in them. He explained that people sought to let the evil spirits out that were hurting their heads and that many even survived the procedures. Unfortunately, these misguided theories would be interpreted into real-life practice in the early 1900s, with budding neurosurgeons deciding they could treat behaviour with surgery.
Alongside the terrible lobotomy was also the practice of trepanation. Many juvenile delinquents, for example, were referred to doctors for brain pressure relief in the 1920s, a procedure that carried a mortality rate of 42%. For more strange stories, visit ripleys.com, rate The Weird Minute if you haven't already, and tune in tomorrow for another Minute of Odd.