Civil War Photos The Labyrinth Medieval Castle History, Design of Medieval Castles, Haunted Castles: www.medieval-castle.com View topic - Prosthetic Hand, circa 1580 A Rare German Prosthetic Hand, circa 1580 Made entirety of iron, with a hollow, naturally modeled hand furnished with a movable thumb and paired fingers, internal ratchet mechanism and external push-button release, and a tubular socket comprising of a long outer plate fretted with a pattern of repealed chevrons, and short inner section formed of plain and scalloped riveted strips, each fitted with buckles for the attachment of a harness. Overall length: 12 1/2 in; Weight: 1 lb It is not unlikely that armourers, with their proven skills in working and articulating metal to the forms of the human body, would have been among the first craftsmen to involve themselves in the manufacture of functional artificial limbs. The earliest surviving hands of this kind are those made for the celebrated Franconian Knight, Götz von Berlich (circa 1480-1562), raised to heroic status by the young Goethe in his childrens' drama of 1772. Provenance: F.W. Click for detailed version
Ancient World How the Vikings Worked" It is late morning at a monastery on the coast of Ireland. The year is 817. From the shore comes a cry of alarm -- dragon boats have appeared on the horizon, approaching quickly with wind filling their sails. A monk runs into the monastery to warn the others. Quickly the monks work to hide the holiest of artifacts, to mount some kind of defense, but the Vikings hit the shore with stunning speed. This is the terror that swept much of Europe in the ninth through 11th centuries, the Age of Vikings. Today we're going to strip away the mythology and take a look the real Vikings and the culture that spawned them.