In the Turkish province of Van, a 3,200-year-old skull was discovered with a triangular hole in it. The latter indicates that its owner had undergone trepanation, writes The Jerusalem Post.

Archaeologists found the remains in a necropolis dating to the early Iron Age, Arkeonews specifies. Excavations there began back in 2016.

Trepanation, notes Arkeonews, is one of the oldest medical procedures. It has been performed for thousands of years. Archaeologists have stumbled upon trepaned skulls in Europe, America, Africa and China.

In ancient times, such a procedure was considered a remedy for various diseases, including head injuries. In 2013, a scientific paper came out claiming that in ancient times people often survived this kind of intervention, The Jerusalem Post recalls.

Some scholars also believe the technique was used in rituals to exorcise spirits from the body.

In the case of the skull found in Turkey, it is unclear whether it belonged to a person who recovered from surgery or whether its owner died because of trepanation. Scientists also do not know, and are unlikely to ever determine, whether the procedure was performed because of health problems or in the course of a ritual, according to The Jerusalem Post.