The Capua leg is an

artificial leg In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

, found in a grave in Capua, Italy. Dating from 300 BC, the leg is one of the earliest known prosthetic limbs. The limb was kept at the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

in London, but was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

during an air raid."Cairo toe earliest fake body bit"
BBC News, 27 July 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2007. A copy of the limb is held at the

Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

."Roman artificial leg, c. 300 BC"
Science Museum (inventory #A646752).

Bibliography

*Von Brunn, Walther: ''Der Stelzfuß von Capua und die antiken Prothesen.'' In: ''Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin.'' Vol. 18, No. 4 (1. November 1926). Stuttgart: Steiner, 1926, pp. 351–360. *Bliquez, Lawrence J.: ''Prosthetics in Classical Antiquity: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Prosthetics.'' In: Haase, Wolfgang; Temproini, Hildegard (ed.): ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt.'' Teil II: Principat, Vol. 37.3. Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, 1996, pp. 2640–2676.

References

Prosthetics Archaeological artifacts {{Europe-archaeology-stub