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

NB! Fair practice / use: copied for the purposes of criticism, review, comment, research and private study in accordance with Copyright Laws of the US: 17 U.S.C. §107; Copyright Law of the EU: Dir. 2001/29/EC, art.5/3a,d; Copyright Law of the RU: ГК РФ ст.1274/1.1-2,7

BLOG CONTENT

8000–1000 BCE

Comments

LCF in 2025 (August)

LCF in 2025 ( August ) (Quotes from articles and books published in August 2025 mentioning the ligamentum capitis femoris) Castro, A., de Melo, C., & Leal, F. (2025). Complications in hip Arthroscopy: Recognizing and managing adverse events. Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma , 103144. [i] journal-cot.com Negayama, T., Nishimura, H., Murata, Y., Nakayama, K., Takada, S., Nakashima, H., ... & Uchida, S. (2025). Factors associated with treatment failure after hip arthroscopic surgery for the patient with femoroacetabular impingement secondary to Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. Journal of ISAKOS , 100937. [ii] jisakos.com Wegman, S. J., Shaikh, H., Brodell Jr, J. D., Cook, P. C., & Giordano, B. D. (2025). Femoral head osteochondral allograft transplantation with and without simultaneous periacetabular osteotomy: a case series. Journal of Hip Preservation Surgery , hnaf037. [iii] ...

1969DeeR

Content [i] Annotation [ii] Original text [iii] Illustrations [iv] Source & links [v] Notes [vi] Authors & Affiliations [vii] Keywords [i] Annotation Article : Dee R. Structure and function of hip joint innervation (1969). The author discusses the nervous system of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) and its role in hip biomechanics. The text in Russian is available at the following link: 1969DeeR . [ii] Original text STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF HIP JOINT INNERVATION Arnott Demonstration delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 4th February 1969 by Roger Dee , M.A., F.R.C.S. Neurologcal Laboratory, Royal College of Surgeons of England, and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Middlesex Hospital, London In 1885 JAMES ARNOTT, surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital and one of the founders of its Medical School, endowed a series of lectures to be given at the Royal College of Surge...

1679DiemerbroeckI

Fragments from the book Diemerbroeck I. Anatome corporis humani (1679). The author describes the pathology variants, function, topography and attachment of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). The damage to the LCF in hip dislocation, symptoms and treatment are discussed. The text is similar to a paraphrase of Hegetor's work «On Causes» and Galen of Pergamon's commentary on Hippocrates' treatise «On Joints» ( 1745CocchiA ; 2020ArkhipovSV_ProlyginaIV ). Isbrand van Diemerbroeck uses many synonyms for LCF: nervus cartilaginosus, terete, teres, rotundum ligamentum, interius ligamentum. Quote p. 593. [Lat] CAPUT XIX. De Ossibus Femoris, & Cruris. Superius procesum crassum, versus coxendicis os prominentem, eique epiphyin rotundam & amplam impositam habet, sicque globosum femoris caput, valida cervice subnixum, constituit, quod cartilagine obductum in coxendicis acetabulum reconditur, in eoque duobus validis ligamentis detinetur: uno lato, crasso, & membranoso, ...

1844CruveilhierJ

Fragments from the book Cruveilhier J. The Anatomy of the Human Body (1844). The author discusses the anatomy and role of the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). Quote p. 94 The head (i, figs. 49 and 50) is the most regularly spheroidal of all the eminences in the skeleton, and forms nearly two thirds of a sphere. In the middle of it we observe a rough depression (k) of variable dimensions, which gives attachment to the round ligament. Quote pp. 159-162 COXO-FEMORAL ARTICULATION (fig. 76). Preparation. Remove with care all the muscles that surround the joint, preserving the reflected tendon of the rectus femoris. The psoas and iliacus muscles, the synovial capsule of which so often communicates with the articular synovial membrane, must be removed with particular care. After the fibrous capsule has been studied upon its external surface, a circular division should be made round its middle portion, for the purpose of uncovering the deep-situated parts. This articulation is the ...

1900BetheE

Fragments of t he book Pollux J. Onomasticum (166-76) edited by E. Bethe (1900). In Greek the author calls ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) «ἰσχίον», and the concept of «ligament» is designated by the term «νεῦρον / ν εῦρα ». The term «ἰσχίον» was used by Rufus of Ephesus ( 2020ArkhipovSV_ProlyginaIV ). The fragment of the Onomasticum dealing with the LCF was quoted by Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia ( 1603IngrassiaeIP ) . See our commentary at the link: 1900 BetheE [Rus]. Quote 1. Βιβλίου Β. 186-187 [Grc] καιλεῖται δὲ καὶ τὸ νεῦρον τὸ σ υνέχον τὴν κοτύλην πρὸ σ τὸν μηρὸν ἰ σ χίον. ὁμώνυμον δ’ ἐ σ τιν αύτῷ καὶ τὸ ἄρθρον. καὶ τὸ μὲν [τῇ] κοτύλῃ [ σ υνηρμο σ μένον] ὀ σ τοῦν σ τρογγύλον μηροῦ κεφαλὴ, μηρὸ σ δὲ τὸ ἁπ ὸ το ύ το υ μὲχρ ι γονάτων μὲρο σ , … (original source: 1900BetheE , pp. 140-141 ) Quote 2. Βιβλίου Β. 234 [Grc] Νεῦρα δ’ ἐστι σύνδεσμος ὀστῶν εἴκων τε καὶ τεινόμενος, ἀφ ̓ ὧν κ...

1914JonesFW_MorrisH

We are publishing a chapter from the fifth edition of «Morris's Human Anatomy» (1914). A significant portion of it is dedicated to the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF). The original text has been edited by Wood Jones. Particularly notable are the illustrations depicting the LCF. Some of them are improved drawings by the first author ( 1879MorrisH ). Quote pp. 276-284 1. THE HIP-JOINT Class. — Diarthrosis. Subdivision. — Enarthrodia. The hip is the most typical example of a ball-and-socket joint in the body, the round head of the femur being received into the cup-shaped cavity of the acetabulum. Both articular surfaces are coated with cartilage, that covering the head of the femur being thicker above where it has to bear the weight of the body, and thinning out to a mere edge below; the pit for the ligamentum teres is the only part uncoated, but the cartilage is somewhat heaped up around its margin. Covering the acetabulum, the cartilage is horseshoe-shaped, a...

1976CrelinES

Content [i] Annotation [ii] Original text [iii] Illustrations [iv] Source & links [v] Notes [vi] Authors & Affiliations [vii] Keywords [i] Annotation Article : Crelin ES. An experimental study of hip stability in human newborn cadavers (1976). The author described an experimental study of the role of ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) in stabilizing the hip joint and its significance for the occurrence of congenital hip dislocation. The text in Russian is available at the following link: 1976CrelinES . [ii] Original text (in German) An Experimental Study of Hip Stability in Human Newborn Cadavers E. S. Crelin Sections of Gross Anatomy and Orthopaedic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510 Received August 21, 1975 The less frequent variety of hip dislocation occurs before birth and may be associated with neuromuscular disorders such as arthrogr...

BIOMECHANICS AND MORPHOMECHANICS

BIOMECHANICS AND MORPHOMECHANICS (On the rela tionship between the mechanics and morphology of the hip joint... ) 1586PiccolominiA One of the first discussions of the biomechanics of the LCF with a description of its shape, mechanical properties and attachment. 1728 WaltherAF The selected excerpt discusses the anatomy, mechanical properties and function of the LCF. 1836WeberW_WeberE Fragments from the book that laid the foundation of biomechanics of the hip joint considering th e LCF. 1836-1840PartridgeR The author compared the LCF, in its function to a leathern straps by which the body of a carriage is suspended on springs . 1856MeyerGH The author of the modern theory of bio mechanics of the hip joint discusses the significant role of the LCF during walking and maintaining an upright posture. 1857TurnerW The fragment of the «Human Anatomy and Physiology» narrates the involvement of the LCF in distri...

1864MacalisterA

Content [i] Annotaction [ii] Original in English [iii] Translated into German [iv] Illustrations [v] Source & links [vi] Notes [vii] Authors & Affiliations [viii] Keywords [i] Annotaction Fragment of the article: Macalister A. On the anatomy of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) (1864). The author observed ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) in an ostrich. Its strength is noted, and its shape is described. Translation into Russian is available at the link: 1864MacalisterA . [ii] Original in English Quote, p. 22 The articulations of the lower extremity present many points of mechanical importance. The first, or the hip, is an enarthrosis, surrounded by a capsule, loose, expanding inferiorly; the synovial membrane spreads over the great trochanter; a strong transverse band passes from the border of the lesser sciatic notch to the upper and posterior edge of the acetab...

1869BirkettJ

Content [i] Annotation [ii] Original text [iii] Illustrations [iv] Source & links [v] Notes [vi] Authors & Affiliations [vii] Keywords [i] Annotation The article: Birkett J. Description of a Dislocation of the Head of the Femur, complicated with its Fracture; with Remarks (1869). The author described the damage to the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) and its strength when observing a fracture-dislocation of the femoral head. The text in Russian is available at the following link: 1869BirkettJ . [ii] Original text DESCRIPTION OF A DISLOCATION OF THE HEAD OF THE FEMUR, COMPLICATED WITH ITS FRACTURE; WITH REMARKS. BY JOHN BIRKETT, F.R.C.S., SURGEON TO GUY'S HOSPITAL. Received Jan. 12th. - Read Feb. 23rd, 1869. A WOMAN, et. 35, of rather short stature, was brought into Guy's Hospital on account of the following injuries, the infliction of which she survived a few minutes only...

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