archeologist in Switzerland have fall across a genuinely baffling , yet potentially very important , discovery buried within an ancient grave : a 3,500 - year - old bronze hand with a gold handlock around the wrist .
Nothing like this has ever been unearthed in this part of Europe , so the researchers are not exactly certain what they are dealing with . It certainly seems to be a symbol of power , but it ’s unclear whether it was once part of a larger sculpture or if it ’s the top ornament of a staff .
The Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern is currently carrying out a detailed scientific analysis of the curious object and says all questions will be answered within just a few months .
Preliminary carbon copy geological dating determined that the mitt dates back to between 1,500 and 1,400 BCE , around the MiddleBronze Age of Europe . This geological dating suggests that it ’s perhaps the universe ’s oldest bronze musical composition representing a part of the human consistency . If it is indeed a carving , it might even be the old bronze sculpture in Europe .
" To the knowledge of Swiss , German and French specialiser , there has never been a comparable sculpture dating from the Bronze Age in Central Europe , ” the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern said in apress release .
“ It is , therefore , a unique and noteworthy object . ”
The so - call “ manus of Prêles ” was first discovered near Lake Biel in the western province of Bern in the fall of 2017 alongside a bronze obelisk blade and a human rib . Then , in the summertime of 2018 , archaeologist working on the site discovered the pinched remains of an adult humankind that appeared to be buried over a much older rock construction . His tomb also contained abronze brooch , a bronze hair ornament , and leftover of gold plate , perhaps also once part of the bronze mitt .
By uncovering the personal identity of this mysterious human race , the research worker trust that they might be able to decipher the substance behind the strange bronze manus .
“ He must have been a high - ranking character , ” added the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern .
“ It is still too early to determine whether the hand was made in the Three - Lakes neighborhood or in a more upstage country . We bang neither the meaning nor the function attributed to it . Its gold ornamentation suggests that it is an allegory of office , a distinctive sign of the social elite , even of a deity . ”
