Prosthetics in Antiquity - An Early Medieval wearer of a foot prosthesis (6th century AD) from Hemmaberg/ Austria (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
The Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese dates from the 6 th to the 8 th centuries AD. Among the 164 tombs excavated, the skeleton of an older male shows a well-healed amputated right forearm. The orientation of the forearm fracture suggests an angled cut by a single blow. Reasons why a forearm might be amputated include combat, medical intervention, and judicial punishment. As with other amputation cases reported in literature, this one exhibits both healing and osteoblastic response. We argue that the forelimb stump morphology suggests the use of a prosthesis. Moreover, dental modification of RI 2 shows considerable wear and smoothing of the occlusal surface, which points to dental use in attaching the prosthesis to the limb. Other indications of how this individual adjusted to his amputated condition includes a slight change in the orientation of the right glenoid fossa surface, and thinning of right humeral cortical bone. This is a remarkable example in which an older male survived the loss of a forelimb in pre-antibiotic era. We link archaeological remains found in the tomb (buckle and knife) with the biological evidence to show how a combined bioarchaeological approach can provide a clearer interpretation of the life history of an individual.
Limb Amputation in Ancient Egyptians from Old Kingdom
Ancient Egyptians have long been known for their medical skills. Ancient Egyptian papyri, medical texts and iconography indirectly suggested that ancient Egyptians used surgical techniques, such as trephination and amputation, as a means of therapeutic medical treatment. Our study presents two cases with amputation out of 204 skeletons. These skeletons were excavated from Giza necropolis and belonged to the Old Kingdom period (2700 - 2190 B.C.). The two cases were adult males from two different social classes. The first individual (case 1) was for a high official male with amputation in the right tibia and fibula, while the second individual (case 2) was for a male worker with amputation in the left ulna and radius. The distal ends of all amputated bones were well-healed; suggesting that they lived long enough after the amputation was done. Radiographs showed normal bone robusticity in the high official male and decreased cortical bone thickness in the male worker. Trauma or disease...
The oldest amputation on a Neolithic human skeleton in France
While 'surgical ' practices such as trepanations are well attested since the first stages of the European Neolithic, the amputation of limbs in Prehistoric periods has not been well-documented until the case presented here. The particularly wellpreserved remains of an aged male were recently uncovered in the Neolithic site (4900-4700 BC) of Buthiers-Boulancourt in the vicinity of Paris, France. It was already noticed in situ that the distal part of the left humerus was abnormal and this led us to the hypothesis of a partially healed 'surgical' amputation. The further investigations reported here confirm a traumatic origin and a partial cicatrisation after surgery, indicating that the patient survived. It also proves the remarkable medical skills developed during Prehistorical times. In addition, the associated grave goods are original, including the skeleton of an animal, a polished schist axe and a massive 30 cm long flint pick. Despite the serious handicap from which he suffered in this pastoral-agricultural community, the buried man obviously enjoyed some particular social status, as suggested by the remarkable and 'prestigious' accompanying grave-goods. If indeed this man benefited from some form of community care, this would indicate the level of social solidarity in Western Europe almost 7000 years ago.
Diagnosis of stapedial footplate fixation in archaeological human remains
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2014
This study analyses changes in the region of the oval window suggestive of stapedial footplate fixation in archaeological human skeletal remains. We endoscopically investigated 621 temporal bones of 385 individuals from five medieval sites in Germany to identify fixations of the stapedial footplate. For differential diagnosis, four cases suspicious of representing stapes fixation or remnants of the fixed footplate were further investigated using microscopic techniques (brightfield and darkfield imaging, phase-contrast microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, CLSM, SEM-BSE imaging), and EDX-analysis, either alone or in combination. Our findings suggest that only two of the four cases represented an intravital fixation of the stapedial footplate. The first case was diagnosed as caused by sclerosis of the annular ligament, the second cases as representing an example of congenital footplate fixation. In a third case, structures that were initially diagnosed as remnants of the footplate were shown to be soil particles. In the fourth case the structures attached to the oval window were identified as apatitic deposits formed by diagenetic agents. Our findings highlight the need for microscopic analyses to distinguish intravital from postmortem changes in the region of the oval window and the differential diagnosis of intravital footplate fixations.
Evidence of amputation as medical treatment in ancient Egypt
International …, 2010
The use of surgical techniques in ancient Egyptian medicine has only been suggested indirectly through ancient medical texts and iconography, and there is no evidence of amputation as a means of therapeutic medical treatment. This paper presents four cases of amputation from the archaeological site of Dayr al-Barsha ̄ , Egypt. Two of the cases (dated to the First Intermediate and Middle Kingdom periods, respectively) are from individuals that display bilateral amputations of the feet, one through the metatarso-phalangeal joints, the other a transmetatarsal amputation. The exact reason for the amputation, perhaps from trauma or disease, is unknown. The particular healing patterns of the distal ends of the amputations suggest these individuals used foot binding or prosthetic devices. Another case represents a healed amputation of the left ulna near the elbow, dated to the Old Kingdom. The final case represents a perimortem amputation of the distal end of the right humerus. The exact date of this individual is unknown, but most likely pertains to the Old Kingdom or First Intermediate period. This individual seems to have suffered a traumatic incident shortly before death, sustaining many fractures, including a butterfly fracture on the right humerus. Several cut marks were identified on top of the butterfly fracture, indicating amputation of the arm at this point. All four cases support the hypothesis that the ancient Egyptians did use amputation as a therapeutic medical treatment for particular diseases or trauma.
2003
As a branch of pathology, palaeopathology searches in human or animal remains for marks of diseases, which occurred in ancient times. We present a foot from the Middle Ages showing changes caused by Sudeck’s dystrophy, presumably due to a fracture of the talus. In addition to its historical interest, this observation underlines the opportunities provided by osteoarticular palaeopathology alongside today’s pathology.
A Broken Leg in the Year 1350: Treatment and Prognosis
Analysing and reconstructing medical treatments: unique approach to heritageinterpretation through research and re-enactment. Wiel van der Mark (NL) for EXARC JOURNAL Issue 2016/2 It is the year 1350 in Gravendam (the medieval town of the archaeological open-air museum, (AOAM) Archeon, in the Netherlands). Master Roelof, a wood-and-bone processor, lies unconscious on the stone floor. Shortly before this, he had been climbing the ladder to the attic to grab a log of wood, but it slipped from under him and he ended on the floor. Roelof fainted from the pain, and his leg now lay at a strange angle (See Figure 1). His wife Mette sees that it is not right and hastens to the barber-surgeon for help immediately (See Figure 2). Accidents did happen in the Middle Ages. What could the barber-surgeon have done for Roelof's broken upper leg? Could he have treated the fracture and the possible complications from this injury? What were Roelof's chances of survival? In this first article about medical medieval treatments in Archeon, the treatment of this medical problem will be described and interpreted.
Journal of Human Evolution, 2001
fluman remains frorn the Austrian Gravettian: the Willendorf femoral diaphysis and mandibular symphysis Early excavations at the Villendorf site complex in Austria yielded a femoral diaphysis collected between 1883 and 1887 and a mandibular symphysis discovered in 1908-1909' The femoral section, \ùTillendórf't, derives from the lùØillendorf I site and direct AMS raC dating (24,250 + 180 years B.P.) assigns it to layer 9. The SØillendorf 2 mandibular piece was excavated from layer 9 of the \üillendorf II site, which is AMS raC dated ro 24,000-23,900 years B.P. The \(¡illendorf I femoral piece is relatively small and exhibits a pronounced pilaster and linear aspera, moderately elevated relative cortical area, and a level of diaphyseal robusticity in the middle of the European earlier Upper Paleolithic human range of variation) assuming similar body proportions. The \Øillendorf 2 mandibular symphysis has an inferior lingual torus, a planum alveolare, and a mental trigone with indistinct lateral tubercles, a clear fossa mentalis and a midline basilar rounding. In these features it is close to the maiority of European earlier Upper Paleolithic mandibles.
Three cases of feet and hand amputation from Medieval Estremoz, Portugal
International journal of paleopathology, 2017
Peri-mortem limb amputations are rarely reported in the paleopathological literature. The cases reported here concern severing of both hands and feet observed in three adult male skeletons, exhumed from the medieval Portuguese necropolis of Rossio do Marquês de Pombal, Estremoz, Portugal. The fact that they were found in the same site, in graves placed side by side, that all are young males, and that the three skeletons show similar perimortem injuries, make this a unique case meriting detailed analysis. Considering the lesions' location and pattern, as well as historical data, we hypothesize that this is a case of amputation as a consequence of judicial punishment. Estremoz was an important city in sustaining the Royal power at a regional scale during the medieval period.