Hip disarticulation of the human

 

Hip disarticulation of the human

Hip disarticulation of the human. Postmortem surgery with transection of the LCF in humans 15-12.5 thousand years ago.

Presumably, the first postmortem arthrotomy of the hip joint with disarticulation was performed in Morocco 15.000-12.500 years ago. This is confirmed by multiple cuts on the femoral neck of a man from the burial of Taf V-18 (Taforalt Iberomaurusian necropolis). «The cuts on the femoral neck were produced by severing the ligaments of the articular capsula in order to disarticulate the bone from the pelvis. There are no pelvic bones in the grave.» (2016MariottiV_CondemiS:Fig.2). We counted more than a dozen longitudinal, fairly deep cuts in the middle part of the femoral neck. Their length varies from about two to ten millimeters and occupies a surface of 1 cm along the length of the femoral neck and 2 cm in width.

The mentioned cuts on the cortical plate and the absence of pelvic bones in the burial are evidence of the disarticulation of the femur. The specialist who performed its posthumous disarticulation could have seen the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). He either cut the LCF with a stone knife or tore it off (ruptured) by rotating the leg. The purpose of the operation undertaken on the dead body is unclear. It seems to us that the «pathologist» saw an intact LCF in the deceased tribesman during the intervention. The need for cutting contributed to the operator's awareness of its connecting function. 

At the same time, the practice of dismembering deceased or intentionally killed persons was observed in the communities of Homo sapiens of the previously discussed case. In particular, cannibalism was widely practiced as a form of burial behavior throughout the Magdalenian period in Europe. The Magdalenian culture is dated from approximately 23.5 to 13.5 thousand years ago (2023MarshWA_BelloS).

References 

Mariotti V, Belcastro MG, Condemi S. From corpse to bones: funerary rituals of the Taforalt Iberomaurusian population. Bulletins et Memoires de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris. 2016;28(1-2)60-5. [academia.edu] 

Marsh WA, Bello S.  Cannibalism and burial in the late Upper Palaeolithic: combining archaeological and genetic evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2023;319:108309. [sciencedirect.com]

Keywords

ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, homo sapiens, disarticulation, operation, intersection, transection, observation

Change history

On February 13, 2025, a correction (addition) was made to this article.

 

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arkhipov Sergey, M.D., E-mail: archipovsv @gmail.com

                                                                     

The original text in Russian is available at the link: Экзартикуляция бедра человека

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8000–1000 BCE