PreHistoric Hand Analysis

The reading of hands is nothing new; it is believed to date back as far as 5,000 years to the ancient cultures of Egypt, China and India. Of course, as an esoteric art, hand reading or palm reading has been around since we have had hands! I love to imagine our prehistoric ancestors sitting and comparing grubby hands as they sat around the campfire gnawing on some mammoth bone or another.

The Ancient Chinese use inked fingerprints on a vast variety of legal documents…everything from land deeds to contracts to land debts. By 246 BC, Chinese officials pressed their fingerprints in clay seals, which were then used to seal official documents.(see picture) There is proof of a trial around 300 BC where a handprint was used as evidence in a theft trial. When silk and paper came into widespread use parties put their handprints on legal document. Fingerprints were able to be used to establish identity in courts over business conflicts, but historians are not sure if the Chinese were aware of the uniqueness of the fingerprints or if there were some type of spiritual significance given to the touching of the finger to the paper. I like to think BOTH.

In 14th century Persia, many official government papers had fingerprints used for identification and one government official, a doctor, noticed that no two fingerprints were exactly alike.

In many ancient, and some not so ancient, cultures the punishment for committing an offense was the cutting off of the hand that was used to commit the crime.