The bronze hand of Prêles including a finger found later in the tomb. Image: P. Joner, Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern.
In autumn 2017, the archaeological service of the Canton of Berne was amazed when two private individuals delivered a crusted lump of metal. The bronze hand of Prêles, decorated with a ribbon of gold, turned out to be the oldest bronze sculpture of a human body part in Central Europe. But where did the metals of the sensational find come from? Empa researchers were involved in the investigation. Marianne Senn from Empa's Advanced Analytical Technologies department is familiar with metals. As a leading researcher in the field of archaeo-metallurgy, she has already carried out numerous analyses of historically valuable relics. This also applies to the bronze hand of Prêles. With a professional look through the microscope, she could quickly see that the metal had been cast - a technology that was advanced at the time.
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