Archaeologists in Germany uncovered the remains of a medieval man with a “sophisticated” centuries-old iron prosthetic hand.
The complete skeleton of a middle-aged man at the time of his death was accidentally discovered by pipeline workers near the St. George parish church in Freising, a Bavarian town 24 miles northeast of Munich.
“Even for experienced archaeologists, this was a particularly special find: a skeleton in which parts of the fingers of its left hand are missing,” the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation said in a statement.
Scientists removed the incredibly intricate prosthetic made from iron and non-ferrous metal and discovered the man was missing all his fingers except for his thumb — likely the result of an amputation.
The prosthetic was likely covered with leather, and a restorer found wrinkled tissue inside the fingers. A gauze-like textile was likely used to cushion the stumps of the man’s hand as he wore the contraption.
“The hollow hand prosthesis on the left hand added four fingers. The index, middle, ring and little fingers are individually formed from sheet metal and are immobile,” said Dr. Walter Irlinger, head of the Bavarian archaeological monument conservation department.
“The finger replicas lie parallel to each other, slightly curved. Presumably, the prosthesis was made with straps on the stump of the hand tied up.”
Radiocarbon dating reveals that the man — likely between 30 and 50 years old — died between 1450 and 1620, scientists concluded.
“That means: Already at that time Doctors thought about how they could make life easier for amputees,” the state office said.
The find is rare — there are only roughly 50 known prosthetics from Central Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern times.
The most famous from the time period was the “Iron Hand” worn by the German Imperial Knight Götz von Berlichingen after losing his hand from a cannon sH๏τ during a war in 1504.
