earliest surgery Shanidar I
"He was born with a withered right arm which was amputated above
the elbow in life and healed successfully. This demonstrates a
surprising skill in surgery in a Pleistocene society, and, more
importantly, shows that a handicapped individual was able to
survive. Presumably, it means that the society contained some
altruism, enough to provide the essentials of food and shelter to
its injured members."J.B. Birdsell, Human Evolution, (Chicago:
Rand McNally & Co., 1972
This was 46,900 B.P. +/-1500 years ago. see Yuri Smirnov
"Intentional Human Burial: Middle Paleolithic (Last Glaciation)
Beginnings," Journal of World Prehistory, 3:2(1989), pp 199-233,
p. 219
**
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm