History Of Prosthetic Limbs

In Ancient literature there are references to prosthetics limbs in there stories and poems, however some of the earliest historical accounts of the use of limbs were recorded in Greek and Roman. There is this one historical account of a Roman general called Marcus Sergius, who had lost his right hand in battle of the Punic War, he then had it replacement hand made out of iron for the purpose of holding his shield and was able to return to battle and continue fighting.

In 2000 researchers in Cairo, Egypt found what the believe to be the oldest documented artificial body part. A prosthetic toe made of wood and strapped on by leather. This prosthetic that they found was nearly three thousands years old mummified remain of an Egyptian noblewomen and shows how little prosthetics limbs have changed throughout history. Apart from recent years, the prosthetic devices have been construction of basic materials such as wood and metal and held to the body with some form of a strap.

In all fairytales and stories the pirates are all portrayed to have peg legs and hooks. However this was the standard throughout history, pirates would have peg legs with wooden cores and metal hands shaped into hooks, although hollywood has portrayed the use of these prosthetics as much more than they would have, but pirates did use them and reply on these types of prosthetics. The materials used for them could be taken from any common pirate ships, for a pirate to come close enough to find a doctor they were extremely hard to find as a trained doctor who could actually amputee was rare, instead the ships cooks would perform the amputation but with hardly any medical things the success rate was poor.

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