Joints between bones
The 206 skeletal bones are linked together at joints.Ancient peoples probably first noticed these when eating their freshly killed meat,as they tried to dismember the animal by cutting off a limb.They found that while the limb moved to and fro easily it was extremely difficult to tear it away from the body,or to cut right through the joint itself.Since that time joints have often been studied after death,but rarely in the active,Living body.More recently,scanning techniques such as CT (computerized tomography)and MRI(magnetic resonance imaging)reveal how a joint such as the knee or shoulder can withstand tremendous forces and stresses.