Medieval Italian Man Replaced His Amputated Hand With a Knife

[Judi Lynn]

George Dvorsky
Today 3:05pm

Italian anthropologists have documented a remarkable case in which a Medieval-era Italian male not only managed to survive the amputation of his right hand, he also used a bladed weapon as a prosthetic limb.

Over 160 tombs have been excavated at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese in Veneto, Northern Italy, but this skeleton, pulled from the ground in 1996, is entirely unique. Dated to between the 6th and 8th centuries, the specimen, dubbed T US 380, is an older male who survived long after the amputation of his right hand. But as new research published in Journal of Anthropological Sciences now shows, he replaced the missing appendage with a knife, which he attached to the stump with a cap, buckle, and leather straps. What’s more, dental analysis shows he tied it on with his teeth.

The updated analysis of the skeleton, led by anthropologist Ileana Micarelli from the University of Rome, suggests the man’s right hand was removed by a single blow. Many Longobard males were involved in warfare, so it’s possible he lost it during combat. It’s also possible that it was surgically removed as part of some medical intervention, or it may have been chopped off as a judicial form of punishment, a behavior known among the Medieval Italian Lombards.

Regardless of what happened, it’s clear from the paleontological evidence that T US 380 survived the amputation, and the injury healed rather nicely. In fact, he managed to live for a very long time afterwards. Micarelli and her colleagues say it’s a remarkable example of a human surviving the loss of a limb prior to the introduction of sterilization techniques and antibiotics. The case suggests the presence of community-level support and an environment in which intensive care and healing could take place. It also shows that Longobard medics, or whoever performed the procedure, knew a thing or two about preventing blood loss.

More:
https://gizmodo.com/medieval-italian-man-replaced-his-amputated-hand-with-a-1825296669