This is the earliest evidence of surgical amputation known to science. In addition, everything indicates that the patient, called Tebo 1, lived for many years after the operation.

What has been learned about Tebo 1?

Unfortunately, the bones do not give clues about a person’s biological sex. In those days, injuries were a common occurrence in the lives of the inhabitants of the mountain region, who had to hunt for survival, scientists say.

Falling rocks or the jaw of a large animal can certainly amputate a leg, but such an injury will crush or break the bone. It leaves no neat corners, and the neatly trimmed end of the Tebo 1’s legs look like “the work of sharp tools in sharp hands.” The cuts also show signs of recovery, showing Tebo 1 lived six to nine years after losing his leg. The leg bones show no signs of inflammation – so either the ancient man did not have any infection after the amputation or the infection was not severe enough to reach the bone.

Based on other clues, Griffith University archaeologist Tim Maloney and colleagues suggest that Tebo 1 was about 19 or 20 years old at the time of its death. And that means At the time of the operation, this person was still a child between the ages of 10 and 14..

Archaeologists say the operation itself and the subsequent recovery probably took place under conditions of “high degree of community care.” A doctor who cuts off a leg—for whatever reason—knew how to keep the wound, surgical instruments, and hands clean a thousand years before surgeons did it just a century ago.

Tebo 1 became immobilized as indicated by bone atrophy. The left leg, on which the surgery was performed, no longer grew after a childhood injury. On the right, there are signs of thinness due to infrequent use.