Trepan Frame and Brace

Trepan Frame and Brace by Collin

6500 BC -- present

The tool on display as part of this exhibit was produced sometime in the 18th/19th Century. This type of trepan frame had been popular for centuries before its creation, but soon after its production this style began to fall out of medical professional favor (thank goodness). This styles last spike in popularity had been in South America from the 14th-16th centuries.

Not currently on display with this tool is the attachment that would have clipped in at the bottom of the trepan. This could appear in a variety of different shapes, but typically it would appear as a hollow cylinder with teeth at the bottom to saw into bone. The tool worked by holding the knob at the top with one hand and the knob in the center with the middle and moving in circular motions down against a bone like the skull to drill a hole for access in early neurocranial procedures.

Human remains from as far back 6500 BC hold evidence of medical procedures that would require tools such as the trepan to have been performed, a slight downside being that less than 40% of the individuals to have this procedure performed then survived.