TLDR: The earliest surgery, a successful amputation, occurred over 30,000 years ago in Borneo, challenging beliefs about the origins of medical practices and highlighting the ancient roots of compassion and medical knowledge.
This article is a summary of a You Tube video “What Was The Earliest Surgery?” by PBS Eons
Key Takeaways:
- Ancient Surgery in Borneo: The oldest known surgical operation occurred over 30,000 years ago in what is now Borneo, where a child’s leg was amputated with remarkable skill.
- Pre-Neolithic Medicine: This discovery predates previous oldest known surgeries from the Neolithic period by tens of thousands of years, challenging assumptions about the origins of medical practice.
- Sophistication of Early Humans: The successful amputation in Borneo suggests ancient humans possessed advanced medical knowledge and skills long before the establishment of settled agricultural societies.
- Evidence of Compassion and Ingenuity: Ancient peoples demonstrated traits of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and compassion, essential for practicing medicine and caring for others.
- Social Aspect of Medicine: While self-medication is observed across various animal species, actively trying to heal others appears to be a behavior unique to Homo sapiens and possibly other hominins.
- Caring for the Vulnerable: Evidence suggests Neanderthals and other ancient hominins cared for individuals with debilitating conditions, indicating a form of social medicine.
- Chimpanzee Wound Treatment: Recent observations of chimpanzees treating each other’s wounds with insects might be the first recorded example of non-human animals actively treating the wounds of others.
- Evolutionary Perspective on Medicine: The practice of medicine, including both self-medication and the treatment of others, might have deeper evolutionary roots than previously thought.
- Cultural Use of Insects in Medicine: Human societies have historically used insects and other invertebrates for medicinal purposes, a practice observed in the recent chimpanzee behavior.
- Challenges in Identifying Ancient Medical Practices: The fossil record provides limited information on complex social behaviors like medicine, making it difficult to confirm the practice among extinct human relatives.
