A human skeleton found on the Indonesian island of Borneo dating back at least 31,000 years from the days of a hunter-gatherer society contains the world’s oldest evidence of a surgical amputation of the left leg. The discovery challenges the hitherto prevailing notion that such medical practices appeared much later, roughly parallel to the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago.

Researchers from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, led by Tim Maloney from the Australian Griffith University, who made a corresponding publication in the scientific journal Nature, reported that the lower limb, apparently, was deliberately amputated and the patient recovered. This indicates that complex surgical procedures were performed in tropical Asia thousands of years earlier than previously recorded.

Previously, the oldest complex operation known worldwide was found on a Neolithic farmer in France about 7,000 years ago who had his left arm amputated.

Amputations require a comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy and surgical hygiene, as well as considerable technical skill. Prior to modern clinical advances such as antiseptics, most amputees ended up dying from bleeding and septic shock or subsequent infection.

The researchers said that in the case of Borneo, the surgical amputation of the lower leg likely occurred when the young man was still a child. The young man survived the operation (which scientists think is surprising at such a young age), is estimated to have walked with the aid of a prop, and lived for another six to nine years before finally dying and being buried at the age of about 20. years in Liang Tembo limestone cave in the East Kalimantan region.

Scientists believe that whoever or whoever performed the amputation had a detailed knowledge of the structure of the leg, muscles and blood vessels so that they could prevent fatal blood loss and infection. They consider it unlikely that the lower limb was torn off by an animal attack or accident, as this usually results in crushed fractures. It also does not appear that the mutilation was inflicted as a punishment, since the young man received proper care after the operation and during his subsequent burial.

It follows, according to Griffiths, that some of our ancestors in the rainforests of Asia developed advanced medical knowledge and skills. The rapid escalation of infections in such a hot and humid environment was probably the motive for acquiring useful knowledge such as antiseptics through the rich variety of herbs and other plants in Borneo. In the recent past, other important finds have been discovered on the same island, such as surprisingly old rock paintings dating back to about 40,000 years ago.

^{Source: RES-IPE}