(I) Sutures have a long and bizarre history, dating back to ancient Egypt, where everything from tree bark to hair was used to stitch human flesh back together again. (II) In Egypt's wars with its neighbours, unknown numbers of young men were wounded while fighting. (III) Fifty years ago, a soldier injured on the battlefield would have been sewn up by medics using sheep's gut. (IV) A hundred years earlier, they would have used silk; before that, metal wire. (V) Today, surgeons often prefer plastics such as polypropylene.