In this episode, the Accessible Medievalist delves a bit into the history of prosthetics, especially the story of a man from the Longobard area of Veneto, Italy, between the sixth and eighth centuries CE, who had an amputated hand and a knife-hand prosthetic. Bibliography: "A Call to Spy.” Blesma: The Limbless Veterans, May 4, 2021. https://blesma.org/news-media/blesma-news/2021/a-call-to-spy/, accessed February 27, 2026. Ashmore, Kevin, et. al. “ArtiFacts: Gottfried ‘Götz’ von Berlichingen-The ‘Iron Hand; of the Renaissance.” Clin Orthop Relat Res 477, no. 9 (September 2019): 2002-2004. Binder, Michaela et. al. “Prosthetics in antiquity—An early medieval wearer of a foot prosthesis (6th century AD) from Hemmaberg/Austria.” International Journal of Paleopathology 12 (2016): 29-40. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1879981715300231. British Museum. “cartonnage (prosthetic toe).” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA29996, accessed December 27, 2025. Daley, Jason. "This 3,000-Year-Old Wooden Toe Shows Early Artistry of Prosthetics.” The Smithsonian Magazine, June 21, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/study-reveals-secrets-ancient-cairo-toe-180963783/, accessed December 25, 2025. Egyptian Museum. “Prosthetic toe of Tabaket en Mut.” https://egypt-museum.com/prosthetic-toe-of-tabaket-en-mut/, accessed December 27, 2025. el Damaty, Sarah, Simon Hazubski, and Andreas Otte. “ArtiFacts: Creating a 3-D CAD Reconstruction of the Historical Roman Capua Leg.” Clinical orthopaedics and related research 479, no. 9 (2021): 1911-1913. https://journals.lww.com/clinorthop/citation/2021/09000/artifacts__creating_a_3_d_cad_reconstruction_of.8.aspx. Li, Xiao, et. al. "Archaeological and palaeopathological study on the third/second century BC grave from Turfan, China: Individual health history and regional implications," Quaternary International 290-291 (2013): 335-343. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618212003370. Micarelli, Ileana, et al. “Survival to amputation in pre-antibiotic era: a case study from a Longobard necropolis (6th–8th centuries ad).” Journal of Anthropological Sciences 96 (2018): 1–16. Sajjadi, S.M.S., M. Casanova, L. Costantini, and K.O. Lorentz. “Sistan and Baluchistan Project: Short Reports on the Tenth Campaign of Excavations at Shahr-I Sokhta," Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 46, no. 1 (2008): 307–34. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/05786967.2008.11864751?needAccess=true. Credits: Music - Medieval Theme 01 by Strobotone is licensed under a Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License Sound - WinHarpsichord.wav by Fupicat; License: Creative Commons 0 Song - James Bond (Original) - Theme Song from the Internet Archive
