Prior to this, evidence of the earliest known amputation had been found on a 7,000-year-old skeleton in France which had led scientists to believe that amputations had only started taking place in settled agricultural societies.
Scientists said last week that the latest discovery suggest Stone Age hunter-gatherers in Indonesia had a sophisticated medical knowledge of anatomy and wound treatment.
The skeleton was found in 2020 in Borneo’s Liang Tebo cave and was missing its left ankle and foot.
The base of the leg bone displayed a knobbly regrowth over an apparently clean break which the scientists said strongly indicated that the ankle and foot were removed deliberately.
The researchers have dismissed other possible explanations – such as a crushing injury, fall or animal attack – because they would have created bone fractures and healed differently.
The person is thought to have been around 20 years old when they died. They appear to have lived six to nine years after the operation and had suffered no major post-operative infection.
The researchers have speculated that the surgeon may have used a lithic blade and rainforest plants with medicinal properties.
Further excavation is expected to take place at the site next year.
The findings were published in Nature last week.
