Cranial surgery was carried out in Britain more than 1,000 years ago - according to scientists who have examined bones found in North Yorkshire.

The skull, found by English Heritage at the abandoned ancient village of Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire, shows the scars of a near-fatal blow by a blunt weapon.

But thanks to a ''life-saving'' procedure performed at the time, the 40-year-old victim of the apparent attack survived his injury and made a good recovery.

Scientists say the man who underwent the surgery was a peasant who lived between 960 and 1100AD in Wharram Percy, a once-thriving community which became one of the most important archaeological sites in the country.

More than 700 skeletons were unearthed at Wharram during one of the longest digs in British archaeological history, between 1950 and 1990.

New analysis of the peasant's skull shows that, after he was struck by a blunt weapon, he underwent a form of surgery known as trepanning. The procedure involved lifting a rectangular area of the scalp measuring 3.5in by 4in (9cm by 10cm) and carefully scraping away at the skull beneath to remove bone fragments and to relieve pressure on the brain.

Wharram's peasant not only survived his ordeal but seemingly lived on for many years, eventually dying of other causes, according to the scientists.

They say the skull is the earliest discovered in England showing conclusive signs of this kind of treatment, although skulls dating back to Neolithic times reveal that trepanning was performed on individuals who had no head wounds - presumably to treat other problems such as mental illness.

Simon Mays, skeletal biologist at English Heritage's Centre for Archaeology, said: ''The peasant was probably involved in the medieval equivalent of a pub fight, or could have been the victim of a robbery or family feud.

''This skull is the best evidence we have that such surgery to treat skull fractures was being performed in England at the time.

''It predates medieval written accounts of the procedure by at least 100 years and is a world away from notions that Anglo-Saxon healers were all about spells and potions.

''It seems most probable that the operation was performed by an itinerant healer of unusual skill, whose medical acumen was handed down through oral tradition.''