I found this link...

http://tms.ecol.net/health/cctrepan.htm

The intresting part about it is the holes in the skulls show signs of healing. Kinda makes you wonder if the patient was conscious during the procedure.

I've seen such tools at a medical exhibit. In fact, it was those tools which made me pass out and fall through a display case.

A lot of modern brain surgeries are done with the patient conscious. Every bodies brain is different if the patient is conscious the doctor can stimulate a part of the brain he is working on and the patient can tell him what it corresponds with. That way he doesn't cut out some thing the patient needs like motor function in his legs. The brain itself feels no pain. All you have to do is numb the scalp.

That makes my skin crawl!!!

That is called "Trepanning"

Trepanation (also known as trepanning, trephination, trephining or burr hole) is a form of surgery in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, thus exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases, though in the modern era it is used only to treat epidural and subdural hematomas.

Trepanation has been carried out for both medical reasons and mystical practices for a long time: Evidence of trepanation has been found in pre-historic human remains from Neolithic times onwards, per cave paintings indicating that people believed the practice would cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and mental disorders. Furthermore, Hippocrates gave specific directions on the procedure from its evolution through the Greek age.

SOURCE

The more I read about the ancients, the more amazed I become. Why is it when I was in school that teachers didn't give that much credit to the ancients?

Considering what else the ancient peoples of earth have been known to do this is not that far fetched, and is also a good indicator that maybe we have had help from otherworldly races at some points throughout our planets history.

I doubt it...It's just human ingenuity...

Yep. There's a reason we're the dominant species on the planet.

People never give the ancients enough credit. Was early man less intelligent than us? Most likely. However, by the times we're talking about (i.e. ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, etc.) humans were identical to the way they are today. Just because they had less technology doesn't mean they were any stupider; Remember that all of our current technology is based off of the technology of generations past.

so, you think we Humans couldn't do this, without an ET's help? just wondering...

But there is no way to prove they actually knew what they were doing right? I mean they could of been taking these tools that were new to them and going gung-ho on someones head and they "thought" they knew what they were doing. Correct me if i'm wrong but the only way to learn anything new is trial and error, so they could of been experimenting to see what they could accomplish instead of making doctors appointments on a Saturday for your casual brain surgery.

Ps. I say this with basic knowledge of the ancients.. if they had mastered the art, fair enough. Im willing to say I'm wrong and feel a bit dumb, but what I gathered from the article is it is THOUGHT to have occured.

Man 1: My head hurts...
Man 2: Ok, lets see what hurts...
*cuts hole in skull*

It could of gone like that...but since ancient Indians also knew how to set broken bones, make immunizations, etc...I think they knew what they were doing.

A medical instrument that crude? I doubt it.