Scientists at the Sapienza University in Rome have discovered the remains of a man who lived around the 6th century AD, with a long knife-shaped prosthesis on one of his arms. The find is described in an article published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences, Science Alert reports.
The skeleton was found in the Lombard necropolis, which is located in northern Italy and dates back to the 6th-8th centuries. It belonged to a man aged 40-50 years, and his hand and part of the forearm on his right hand had been amputated. As the scientists found out, a person lost an arm as a result of severe injury, for example, a serious fracture due to an unsuccessful fall.
On the ulna and radius, traces of the impact of the prosthesis were found, including callus and spur. In addition, the presence of a prosthesis was indicated by severe wear of the teeth, which was probably due to the tightening of the belts holding the hand substitute by the jaw. Remnants of leather were also found, which served as an attachment material.
On the skeleton lay a blade, one end of which was next to the amputated arm. Scientists believe that this is a part of the prosthesis, since other skeletons in the necropolis always had their personal weapons on the side of the body.
Any living creature that has mechanical or electronic components is called a cyborg. One of the areas of cyborgization is prosthetics, which replaces body parts or whole organs for a person. Prostheses can be bionic arms, eye implants, or an artificial heart.