Undated photo provided by the Austrian Institute of Archeology showing the grave of a man with an amputated left foot and ankle, buried in Hemmaberg, southern Austria Austrian archaeologists believe they have discovered the oldest known prosthesis in Europe in the form of the remains of a wooden foot about 1,500 years old, we learned Thursday, December 14, 2016 from the Austrian Institute of Archeology . The find dates from the 6th century. It was made in the grave of a man with an amputated left foot and ankle, buried in Hemmaberg, in southern Austria, near the Slovenian border. In place of the missing limbs, the researchers identified in a pile of leather and wood the remains of a prosthesis topped with an iron ring attached to the leg. "The man appears to have survived the loss of his foot and then lived for at least two years with this implant, walking relatively well" , Sabine Ladstaetter of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) told AFP.
Older prostheses have been discovered in China or Egypt
The skeleton is presumably that of a high-ranking Frankish dynasty figure unearthed in 2013, but which only very recently revealed to researchers its "very, very surprising" peculiarity. "The risk of infection was extremely high, which shows how good the medical treatment received was, when we were at the beginning of the civilized world" added Ms. Ladstaetter. In China or Egypt, older prostheses have been discovered. The six churches of Hemmaberg, today in the province of Carinthia, were in their time the most important Christian place of pilgrimage north of the Alps. The site was discovered by archaeologists in the early 20th century.