While first inspection may lead one to conclude that it is nothing more than an imaginative man-made creation, examination by a physician in Cusco, Peru, revealed that it is composed of skin and bone, with six bones in each finger.

The bizarre-looking hand was allegedly presented to Peru-based researcher Brien Foerster, who runs Hidden Inca Tours, along with a small mummified elongated skull and a tiny mummified body. The local person who has possession of the items told Foerster that they were found in a tunnel in January 2016 in the southern desert of Peru. The tunnel was closed-off by a large stone door and inside were two sarcophagi containing the body parts, which had been covered in clay.  He indicated that he did not want to sell the mummified body parts, but just wanted to know what they were and who or what they may have belonged to.

Medical Examination Reveals Skin and Bone

Brien Foerster took the hand and skull to physicians in Cusco, Peru, who did not wish to be identified. The hand was x-rayed and found to have 6 bones in each finger, while a regular human hand has 3 bones. The examination revealed that the mummified hand is made up of bone and skin, suggesting that it is not a fake (unless it was somehow made using real bones, flesh and skin).

Top: X-ray of the 3-fingered hand, showing 6 bones in each finger. Credit: Brien Foerster / Hidden Inca Tours. Bottom: X-ray of a human hand, showing 3 bones in each finger.  (CC by SA 3.0)

The 3-Fingered Anomaly

An animal with 3 fingers or toes is known as a tridactyl, and most tridactyls are reptiles or birds, although there are some exceptions, for example, the rhinoceros.  The mummified hand found in Peru clearly does not belong to any of these categories as the fingers have nails like humans or primates.  All primates have five fingers and toes, except for the small spider monkey, which has four. Therefore, the hand is an anomaly, appearing neither human nor animal. Indeed, the physicians that examined the hand told Foerster that it was not human, but that it belonged to “a life form of some kind”.

A close up of the finger reveals a nail that looks either human or primate. Credit: Brien Foerster / Hidden Inca Tours.

Theories

The mummified hand was allegedly found in a sarcophagus, along with an infant sized elongated skull, and a tiny mummified body, which also did not appear to be human. These artifacts are shown in the video below. Those who have examined the objects have concluded that they are either extra-terrestrial, and belonging to several different species, or that they belong to ancient human-like species.

Could there be another explanation?  The only logical alternative to the above explanation is that it is an elaborate hoax, and that someone has invested a great amount of time and effort into constructing the body parts using organic material. It is highly unlikely that all three artifacts are mutations of known species. However, Foerster has said that the team now plan to conduct radiocarbon and DNA testing in the USA later this year. So perhaps that will provide some answers to the puzzle.

Source: Ancient Origins