Medieval Gauntlet Excavated in Switzerland

News January 16, 2024

Switzerland Gauntlet
(Canton of Zurich)
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Switzerland Gauntlet

KYBURG, SWITZERLAND—Swissinfo.ch reports that the well-preserved pieces of a fourteenth-century gauntlet have been unearthed in northern Switzerland, at a site thought to have been a blacksmith’s shop. A mould, hammers, keys, and projectile points were also recovered. The 25 metal gauntlet parts would have once been attached to each other and riveted to a leather glove to form a flexible form of protection. Only four other gauntlets from the period have been found in Switzerland, but researchers do not know if armored gloves were rare objects, or if the metal was routinely melted down and reused. To read about a mid-second millennium B.C. bronze hand uncovered in Prêles, Switzerland, go to "An Eccentric Artifact," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2018.

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