Trepanation in the Portuguese Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods

In Portugal, the study of prehistoric trepanation started 120 years ago, when Nery Delgado announced the discovery of the first Portuguese trepanned skull, dated to the Neolithic. Since then, a considerable number of trepanations from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age periods have been discovered and described in Europe. In Portugal, however, they seem to be very rare. This contribution reviews the Portuguese trepanations and reports some new discoveries. Twenty-five trepanations (including some doubtful instances) are reported. The trepanations are discussed in terms of sex of the individual, location and size of the surgical intervention, technique used, indications of survival or non-survival, and the possible motivating circumstances of the surgery. Finally, some general factors are advanced to explain the relative small number of trepanations known from Portugal.