Adding Injury to Injury

The apron-clad conservator at the New York Academy of Medicine, Anne Hillam, held up two skulls last week, one in each hand, and asked, “How many do you think we need? Is four overdoing it?” Each ceramic skull had at least one hole in it, the results of the once common medical practice of trepanning – boring a hole in the head to relieve pain and pressure. Tucking the best specimens under each arm, she placed them on a shelf covered in red felt, not far from a gleaming battle-ax, a broadsword, a crossbow, and a Roman gladius.