Archaeologists in Poland have uncovered a rare iron tool used by the Celts to perform cranial surgery more than 2,300 years ago. The hand-held implement, discovered at Łysa Góra — a Celtic settlement in the Mazovia region of central-eastern Poland — likely served as a trepanation instrument, a type of surgical scalpel used to bore into the human skull.
“The technique and precision of the iron object’s manufacture indicate Celtic metallurgy,” Bartłomiej Kaczyński, an archaeologist at the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw, told Live Science. The tool features a blade that transitions into a spike and was probably fastened to a wooden handle. Such implements are exceptionally rare, making this find even more significant than the Celtic helmet previously unearthed at the same site.
Trepanation, from the Greek word meaning “to bore,” is a cranial surgery practiced worldwide for at least 5,000 years, including in Spain, Israel, and Bolivia, continuing into the early 19th century. Most Celts appear to have employed a “traditional scraping technique,” though some communities practiced drill trepanations, according to a 2007 study in Neurosurgical Focus. Kaczyński noted that these operations likely had both medical and ritual purposes, though no skeletons of patients have yet been identified at Łysa Góra.
The presence of Celts at Łysa Góra was unexpected, as it is the northeasternmost Celtic site discovered in Europe. Excavations at the settlement, which were first conducted in the 1970s and resumed in recent years, have revealed a wealth of artifacts, including bronze and iron objects, spearheads, brooches, and items linked to horseback riding. Kaczyński explained that the Celtic community there likely included skilled metallurgists and practitioners with specialized medical knowledge, capable of producing tools like the trepanation scalpel.
Łysa Góra was a fortified settlement even before the Celts arrived in the fourth century B.C., but the discovery of imported bronze, iron tools, and amber objects indicates that it became a major center of trade under Celtic influence. Amber, highly prized in the Mediterranean world, may have motivated the Celts to fortify the site to protect their role along the so-called “amber trail,” Kaczyński told Live Science in 2024.
This discovery not only highlights the advanced medical and metallurgical skills of the Celts but also provides new insight into the social and ritual practices of one of Europe’s most enigmatic ancient cultures.
