April
22
/ 2024
A team of researchers recently completed a study into the origins of two ancient skeletons from China that were both missing parts of their lower leg at the time they were buried. Based on extensive analysis of these human remains, the researchers concluded that the two individuals were aristocratic men who lived during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771—256 BC), or to be more precise approximately 2,500 years ago. Most astonishingly, the study authors are virtually certain that the men had parts of their legs amputated as punishment for some kind of illegal or unethical deeds, after which they were allowed to live out their lives in freedom and comfort. While this might sound like a bizarre theory, in fact Chinese
