Researchers from the University of Sydney and Griffith University discovered the remains of a 31,000-year-old man with scars from an amputation he had as a child. The study was published in the journal Nature.
The skeleton of a young man, who was about 20 years old at the time of his death, was found in a cave on the island of Borneo, where some of the world’s oldest rock paintings are found. His left leg looked emaciated and the size of a child, but the man was definitely an adult. It turned out that the man had no legs. Upon examination, the archaeologists found that the incision was clean and did not show any signs of infection. The authors believe that the possibility of an amputation being an accident is endless.
While it’s unclear exactly what caused the amputation, the man also had a well-healed neck fracture and collarbone injury that may have occurred during the same incident. The natives certainly understood that for the boy to survive, his leg had to be amputated.
The island of Borneo is an extremely harsh place with steep cliffs. In order to enter the cave, the archaeologists first had to climb a high mountain by canoe and then a high mountain. This shows how lucky a person is who can live with one leg for another 6-9 years after amputation.