A new interpretation of cave art suggests that men and women in prehistoric times may have had their fingers deliberately amputated during religious rituals. Researchers have examined 25,000-year-old paintings in France and Spain that depict hand silhouettes, with over 200 prints showing missing digits. While the absence of fingers was previously attributed to artistic license or medical issues, archaeologist Prof Mark Collard of Simon Fraser University believes that these amputations were performed in rituals to seek help from supernatural entities. Finger amputation was not limited to one time or place, and similar practices are still seen in some societies today. Collard and his team have gathered more data to support this thesis, arguing that the practice of finger amputation explains the hand images in these caves. They have also found evidence of finger amputation in various other societies across the globe.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/dec/23/prehistoric-handprints-finger-missing-ritually-removed