3,500-year-old metal hand discovered in ancient tomb in Switzerland

This Bronze Age metal hand wears a gold bracelet. Alongside it are a dagger, a bronze pin and a spiral hairpin. Two recovered gold flakes may have come off the bracelet. Photo credit: Philippe Joner/Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern.

Swiss archaeologists say treasure hunters have unearthed a number of rare artifacts, including a 3,500-year-old bronze hand wearing a gold bracelet.

Crafted during the Bronze Age, this hand is slightly smaller than the real thing, and is the oldest metal prosthesis in Europe. Ancient artisans left a hollow cavity where the wrist should have been, a clue that the part was once attached to another object, such as a statue or scepter.

One theory is that it was used as a prosthesis, or in rituals, Andrea Schaer, director of the Department of Roman History and Archaeology, told National Geographic.

Treasure hunters with metal detectors were conducting a search near Lake Biel in the canton of Bern in October 2017. After a day of searching, they discovered the aforementioned metal hand along with a bronze dagger and fragments of ribs.

When they brought it all to the Department of Roman History and Archaeology, the people there were quite puzzled. "We had never seen anything like it," Schaer told National Geographic.

The hand, weighing nearly 17 grams, was cast in an alloy of bronze and tin. Photo credit: Philippe Joner/Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern.

The gold was glued to the wrist with a glue that allowed researchers to conduct radiocarbon testing. The glue was dated to 1500 to 1400 BC, matching the bronze dagger found nearby.

Excited by the discovery, archaeologists returned to the excavation site this past spring to see if there were any more artifacts that had been overlooked. Their efforts paid off when Schaer and his colleagues found a nearly ruined ancient tomb near the small village of Prêles on Lake Biel. Inside were the bones of an adult male, a spiral-shaped bronze hairpin, and small gold flakes that matched the missing part of the bronze hand.

Beneath the tomb is a small stone structure from ancient times. It seems that the owner of the bronze hand placed it there intentionally, a detail that archaeologists say is noteworthy. "He must have been a person of high status," the statement said. The hand is wearing a gold bracelet, suggesting a symbol of power, a distinctive sign of the social elite, perhaps even of a deity.

Excavation site. Photo: Guy Jaquenod / Bern State Archaeological Service.

Scientists say they plan to conduct further research on the metal hand to determine whether it was made locally or brought from elsewhere. The find is truly unique, with no other metal artifacts resembling human anatomy found in central Europe.

The artifact went on display in October at the Biel Museum. Its purpose remains a mystery.