According to this website
http://www.brain-surgery.com/history.html
"There is ample evidence, however, of brain surgery, dating back to the Neolithic (late Stone Age) period. Unearthed remains of successful brain operations, as well as surgical implements, were found in France-- at one of Europe's noted archeological digs.
http://www.brain-surgery.com/alsace.gif
And, the success rate was remarkable, even circa 7,000 B.C. "
"Pre-Incan civilization used brain surgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 B.C."

According to an article from Neurosurgery (the journal)

"Cranial manipulation for various religious, mystical, and therapeutic reasons being evident in Africa more than 10 millennia before the birth of Christ."
Neurosurgery. 2007 Jul;61(1 Suppl):28; discussion 28-31.
Surgery of the human cerebrum--a collective modernity.
Apuzzo ML, Liu CY, Sullivan D, Faccio RA. Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA..

"Safe and beneficial surgery of the human cerebrum is arguably one of mankind's most notable achievements and one of the great testimonials to human creativity, intelligence, and character. In many ways, it is a testimony to the climates of civilization that have marked human history. In historical terms, in the year 2007, cranial surgery celebrated its 12,000th birthday."

This other article suggests that the ancient egyptians may have been able to perform surgery of the spinal cord (not brain surgery but it is neurosurgery).

Neurosurg Focus. 2007;23(1):E6.
A historical hypothesis of the first recorded neurosurgical operation: Isis, Osiris, Thoth, and the origin of the djed cross.
Filler AG. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

"A new textual analysis of the central religious aspect of the ancient Egyptian creation myth reveals what appears to be a description of the oldest recorded neurosurgical operation, occurring circa 3000 BC. The analysis results in a hypothesis suggesting that traction reduction was used successfully to reverse a paralyzing cervical spine injury of an early Egyptian leader (Osiris), which inspired the story of his resurrection."
Source(s):
www.pubmed.com

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