M0005795: The Edinburgh skull and Tell-Duweir skull showing trephined openings

Previous title, replaced August 2020: The Edinburgh skull showing trephined opening and Tell-Duweir trephined skull

Photograph of two skuills: the upper is the "Edinburgh skull" from the Canary Islands, Spain, dated c.1871-1930 and previously owned by Dr T. Wilson Parry, an English doctor who researched Neolithic trephination tools and techniques. The skull was acquired by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and it is now held by the Science Museum (object number A652218). The lower item is a cast of a skull with a rectangular trephination hole, excavated at Tell ed-Duweir (Tel Lachish), Israel, and dated c.710 B.C. The cast was previously part of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum but is not held by Wellcome Collection.

11 October 1938

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2020.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.