4,000-Year-Old Stone Scalpels Found in Peru Shed Light on Ancient Medical Practices

A team of archeologists has unearthed a set of slate-stone instruments that are similar to scalpels. The artifacts are 4,000 years old and are believed to have been used by ancient Peruvian healers to make surgical incisions on patients.

According to Manila Bulletin, the artifacts were discovered in the community of Papahuasi, Huanuco, on the left bank of the Huallaga River, 431 km north of Lima in central Peru. The finding reveals that the local Quechua-speaking Yachaq indigenous people practiced medicine. The tools, which closely resemble scalpels, were discovered along with the mummies of 16 adults and children. Their bodies were laid to rest in the fetal position, which according to the beliefs of these people, was a position symbolizing rebirth.

A Peruvian Tumi scalpel. Andean cultures such as the Paracas have used the tumi for the neurological procedure of skull trepanation. Sican Culture Ceremonial Knife (Tumi) held at the Birmingham Museum of Art (public domain)

As Antonio Robles, the curator of the Municipal Museum of History in Churubamba, in the northern Andean province of Huanuco, said: