The case of large trepanation of the bronze age skull from kurgan 2 near the L’govskoye village

The archaeological excavations of kurgan 2 from the group of two kurgans near the L’govskoye village (Republic of Crimea) examined 21 burials dating to the Bronze Age – Early Iron Age. One of the Bronze Age burials yielded a skeleton of a young man with traces of trepanation on the skull. The paper reports on the results of its comprehensive research. This trepanation is noted for its large size and preservation of a thin lower plate of the bone cortical layer on a large surgically treated region. Scraping with a stone tool was a prevailing method of surgical procedures. The trace wear analysis revealed a series of traces left by at least two tools with different cutting edges. The paper also suggests that this surgical intervention was performed for treatment purposes.