A 31,000yearold skeleton found on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia surprised researchers with an unusual detail. The remains were missing the bones of the left lower leg, dating back to what appears to be the first amputation operation in history.
The study by researchers at Griffith University in Australia was published in the journal Nature. According to the scientists, the bone healing suggests that the limb was removed intentionally and not the result of an animal attack or other accident.
The surgeon was quite talented too. The study suggests that the leg was removed during childhood of the huntergatherer, who died six to nine years after the operation. However, the researchers could not answer what led to the child being amputated.
The victim had the lower part of his left leg amputated when he was a child. Image: Tim Maloney/Reproduction
The fossil record was found in the Liang Tebo limestone cave in the remote SangkulirangMangkalihat region, which is only accessible by boat at certain times of the year. By then, the oldest evidence of amputation surgery ever discovered belonged to an elderly farmer who died in France 7,000 years ago. The subject has had the left forearm removed just above the elbow.
Until then, scientists believed that the shift from gathering to agriculture at the end of the Ice Age would have led to previously unknown health problems, spurring advances in medicine and the first attempts at surgery. The new study shows that the practice was fashionable even before permanent settlements emerged.
Also the post op care was great as the wound had to be cleaned and disinfected regularly to prevent infection. In addition, the child lived in mountainous terrain that made mobility difficult, indicating a high level of community care.