Amputation 31,000 Years Ago - And the Patient Lived
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:42 am
Amazing.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/asia/ear ... index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/asia/ear ... index.html
Maybe. Or maybe they just lucked out?(CNN)Buried in a shallow grave deep within a remote Indonesian cave, archaeologists have found the bones of a young individual they say could rewrite medical history.
Using radiocarbon dating techniques, scientists estimate the body has lain undisturbed for 31,000 years inside the Liang Tebo cave in eastern Kalimantan province in Borneo, according to research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
But the most striking aspect of the discovery was that the young man or woman was missing their lower left leg, with signs it had been carefully amputated when the person was a pre-teen or early teen before their death from unknown causes between 19 and 21, researchers said.
The otherwise remarkably intact skeleton was found by in 2020 by Australian and Indonesian archaeologists, who say the amputation reveals considerable surgical skill and is the earliest example in the archeological record, shaking up our understanding of sophistication of Stone Age humans.