A wood and leather big toe attached to the mummified remains of a 50-60 year old woman may be the oldest prosthsesis known. The artifact has been dubbed "The Cairo Toe" and its owner Toe-tankhamun. The device is articulated and shows signs of wear, an indicator that it actually functioned to help its owner to walk. Follow the links to articles and photographs, or tiptoe on over to this National Geographic News article and larger photograph of same. Related stories are at this link.
The Clog Almanac poses this question: Would the lurching halting mummies in all those American horror films have walked differently were they fitted out with similar prostheses?
Egypt, mummy, prosthetic toe, Cairo Toe, mummy's toe
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