Iron Hands: A Brief History of Amputations and Prosthetics

Modern limb replacements trace back to radical new thinking during the Renaissance, forced by gunpowder warfare

By Heidi Hausse, Assistant Professor of History, Auburn University

Amputees in 16th century Europe commissioned iron hands from artisans, many of whom had never made prostheses before. Lernestål, Erik, Livrustkammaren/SHM, CC BY-SA

The human body today has many replaceable parts, ranging from artificial hearts to myoelectric feet. What makes this possible is not just complicated technology and delicate surgical procedures. It’s also an idea — that humans can and should alter patients’ bodies in supremely difficult and invasive ways.

Where did that idea come from?

Scholars often depict the American Civil War as an early watershed for amputation techniques and artificial limb design. Amputations were the most common operation of the war, and an entire prosthetics industry developed in response. Anyone who has seen a Civil War film or TV show has likely watched at least one scene of a surgeon grimly approaching a wounded soldier with saw in hand. Surgeons performed 60,000 amputations during the war, spending as little as three minutes per limb.

Yet, a momentous change in practices surrounding limb loss started much earlier — in 16th and 17th century Europe.