Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Latest News

Archaeologists in Germany find centuries-old skeleton with prosthetic hand

Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered a centuries-old skeleton complete with a metal prosthetic hand to replace four missing fingers.

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation said in a statement published last week that archaeologists used carbon dating to estimate that the man died some time between 1450 and 1620, aged between 30 and 50 years old. This would make the prosthetic hand potentially almost 600 years old.

The fingers on the man’s left hand appear to have been amputated and the remains of the hand were surrounded in a hollowed-out case wrought from iron and other metal, revealing the advanced state of medicine at the time, archaeologists said.

“The hollow hand prosthesis on the left hand added four fingers,” Walter Irlinger, head of the Bavarian archaeological monument conservation department, said in the statement.

“The index, middle, ring and little fingers are individually formed from sheet metal and are immobile. The finger replicas lie parallel to each other, slightly curved. Presumably the prosthesis was attached to the stump with straps,” he added.

A bandage-like fabric was found inside the prosthetic hand, suggesting that it was used to cushion the stump.

The remains were found in a grave near a church in the Bavarian town of Freising, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Munich, during utility work.

Freising was the site of several battles during the Middle Ages and during the Thirty Years’ War of 1618-1648. This probably increased the number of amputations and consequently led to more prostheses, the statement said.

About 50 similar prostheses dating from the same time period have been uncovered in Central Europe, ranging in complexity from an immobile one like the one found in Friesing to an intricate, moving prosthetic hand famously worn by the knight Götz von Berlichingen after 1530, archaeologists added.

And an even older, 3,000-year-old prosthetic wooden toe was uncovered by archaeologists in Egypt in 1997.

Worn by a priest’s daughter, the toe was made to both enable walking and look aesthetically natural, archaeologists later discovered.

This post appeared first on cnn.com






    You May Also Like

    Latest News

    North Korea may be known as the hermit kingdom, but the isolated nation could be edging toward opening its borders to small numbers of...

    Editor's Pick

    One of the perks of being speaker of the House — or at least, one of the characteristics of it — is that you...

    Latest News

    Evacuations are underway across Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui as passing Hurricane Dora helps fuel wildfires that have damaged structures, prompted rescues and spurred...

    Latest News

    Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki won her first competitive tennis match in three-and-a-half years on Tuesday, defeating Australian Kimberly Birrell 6-2 6-2 at...

    Disclaimer: balanceandcharge.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.


    Copyright © 2024 balanceandcharge.com