New findings by Australian and Indonesian archaeologists are changing our knowledge of human history. The earliest case of surgery to date was that of a Neolithic farmer 7,000 years ago.
[Credit: Tim Maloney (Guardian)]
A human skeleton found on the Indonesian island of Borneo, dating to a hunter-gatherer society at least 31,000 years ago, bears the world's oldest record of a surgical amputation on the left leg. The discovery challenges the previously prevailing view that such medical practices emerged more recently, roughly parallel to the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago.
By measuring the age of a tooth and burial sediments, scientists estimated the age of the remains at about 31,000 years. Analysis of the remains revealed healing marks on the lower left leg, indicating that the leg had been surgically amputated several years before burial.
[Credit: Tim Maloney (Guardian)]
The researchers from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, led by Tim Maloney of Australia's Griffith University, who made the corresponding publication in the journal "Nature", reported that the lower leg had apparently been amputated intentionally and the patient had recovered. This suggests that sophisticated surgical procedures took place in tropical Asia thousands of years earlier than previously known.
The oldest internationally known complex surgery discovered to date involved a Neolithic farmer in France about 7,000 years ago who had his left arm amputated.
Professor Tim Maloney of Australia's Griffith University, who led the excavation, called the discovery "an archaeologist's absolute dream".
[Credit: Tim Maloney (Guardian)]
Amputations require extensive knowledge of human anatomy and surgical hygiene, as well as a high degree of technical skill. Before modern clinical advances such as antisepsis, most amputees eventually died from hemorrhage and septic shock or subsequent infection.
The researchers explained that in Borneo's case, surgical amputation of the lower leg was likely performed in infancy. The young man survived the surgery (which scientists believe is surprising for such a young age), was estimated to be able to walk with the aid of some support, and continued to live for another six to nine years before finally dying and being buried in the Liang Tembo limestone cave in the East Kalimantan region at the age of about 20.
The scientists believe that whoever performed the amputation had intimate knowledge of the structure, muscles and blood vessels of the leg, so he was able to prevent fatal blood loss and infection. They believe it is unlikely that the lower limb was severed by animal attack or accident, as this usually results in crush fractures. Nor does the mutilation appear to have been done as a punishment, since the young man was well cared for after the operation and at his subsequent burial.
[Credit: Jose Garcia (GARCIARTIST) & Griffith University]
Griffiths suggests that some of our ancestors in the tropical rainforests of Asia had developed advanced medical knowledge and skills. The rapid deterioration of infections in such a hot and humid environment probably motivated the acquisition of useful knowledge such as antiseptics using the rich variety of herbs and other plants found in Borneo. More recently, other important finds have been made on the island, such as unexpectedly ancient rock paintings dating back to about 40,000 years ago.
