Healers of the new Stone Age knew how to carry out complex operations for amputation of limbs, moreover, with anesthesia and in sterile conditions
Examining one of the building sites near Paris, experts from the National Institute for Preliminary Archaeological Research discovered a seven-thousand-year-old human burial with an amputated hand. It was amputated, not bitten off by some animal. Probably, no damage was done during a hunt or in a battle with enemies, but the damaged part of the hand above the elbow joint was then removed using a flint knife - people did not yet know the metal.
Moreover, archaeologists suggest that before the operation, the patient was given anesthesia, most likely with some kind of hallucinogen, and after the operation, the wound was treated with a natural antiseptic - possibly a decoction of herbs, so there was no postoperative inflammation. After the operation, he lived for several more years.
The man was noticeably taller than his fellow tribesmen, and not only physically. In the burial were found stone weapons and the remains of an animal clearly intended for food in the afterlife. All this, including the very fact of a complex operation, testifies to his high social status. And, of course, he could only be useful to the tribe because of his intellect.
By the way, in one of the caves of the Pyrenees, 50 years ago, they found the skeleton of a man without arms, about 20 thousand years old. His study showed that the unfortunate man lost his hands in a battle with some predator, but did not die of blood loss and lived for at least 5-7 years.
Of course, all these years he could not get food on his own, which means he was supported by the tribe. For what such merits did the tribe agree to care for a sufferer who was incapable of physical labor?
Obviously, the armless Cro-Magnon was of value to the tribe as an intellectual. It can be assumed that he was a priest or knew how to light a fire, or was able to teach the younger generation the techniques of effective hunting. Based on this find, many archaeologists believe that it was then, 20 thousand years ago, that the division of labor and respect for the intellect already appeared. So the importance of mental labor was understood already in the Stone Age, which cannot be said about the modern attitude to science in Russia.
