Borneo Skeleton, 31,000 Years Old, Thought to be Oldest Example of Amputation

"It's very neat and oblique, you can actually see the surface and shape of the incision through the bone," Maloney told a press briefing.

The patient lived for years after amputation

Scientists believe the amputation was performed while the person was still a child when the limb was amputated and went on to live for another six to nine years as an amputee.

While humans have been operating on one another for hundreds of years, the complexity of an amputation meant that in Western medicine patients only began to have reasonable odds of survival around a hundred years ago.

Scientists have not been able to identify the type of implement used to operate, but have speculated that a sharpened stone was used followed by treatment with medicinal plants to help stave off infection.

Sources: DW, AFP, AP