Szarmata sebészi trepanációk a Kárpát-medencében

Abstract

Despite the abundance of written resources and bioarcheological remains from the era, very few trephined skulls have been unearthed so far from the territory of the Roman Empire. In the territory of today Hungary, more than 130 surgically trephined skulls have come to light, with the earliest evidence deriving from the Neolithic period. However, the Hungarian literature does not mention any unequivocal Roman finds from the province of Pannonia (today Western Hungary). Earlier publications and osteological researches of the last fifteen years, however, have already yielded 6 possible cases of trepanation from Barbaricum, the Sarmatian territory partly enclosed by Roman provinces (today Eastern Hungary). The authors wish to re-examine these 6 cases, evaluate and justify their inclusion as Sarmatian trepanations, and put forward a possible explanation of the controversy between the written resources and the osteological evidence.