From Trauma to Innovation: A Comparative History of Limb Amputation and Prosthetics in Humans and Ungulates from Historical and Zooarchaeological Perspectives

Amputation and prosthetics represent vital themes in the history of medicine and zooarchaeology, reflecting the boundaries of therapeutic capabilities and evolving human–animal relationships. This study provides a comprehensive, comparative historical analysis of limb amputation procedures, surgical tools, haemostasis, and prosthetic rehabilitation in both humans and ungulates. A narrative literature review was conducted across electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library) and digital repositories to evaluate archaeological evidence, ancient legal frameworks, and medieval/early modern medical and veterinary treatises. The historical evolution reveals striking cross-disciplinary technical analogies. Early modern surgical instruments (amputation knives and saws) and basic haemostatic approaches (fire cauterization transitioning to vascular ligation) developed along parallel trajectories in human and veterinary surgeries. However, the post-operative application of prosthetics reveals sharp biomechanical contrasts. While human prosthetics primarily addressed locomotion and cosmetics, veterinary prosthetics in heavy ungulates (horses and cattle) faced critical biological barriers, most notably contralateral limb overload leading to laminitis. Conversely, modern cases in lighter species (donkeys, alpacas, and sheep) demonstrate significantly higher adaptive success. Integrating human medical milestones with veterinary history provides a holistic framework for understanding paleopathologies and the cultural shift from culling injured livestock toward advanced, empathetic veterinary bioengineering.