VASCONIC CONNECTION · IRON AGE

Hand of Irulegui

Hand of Irulegui: writing beside a door

A bronze hand links writing, homes and protection.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Provided recreation of the Hand of Irulegui, with green patina and stippled inscription — **PROVIDED RECREATION · interpretative writing and volume**
Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Image and model provided by the user. Not identified as photograph, archaeological scan or metric facsimile of the original.
Material provided to the project

Explore in 3D

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User-provided 3D recreation; the signs and proportions are not certified as archaeological facsimile.

History and context

Found in 2021 in Irulegi, this hand-shaped lamina appeared beside the entrance of a dwelling destroyed in the first third of the 1st century BCE. Its signs were traced by incision and stippling.

Researchers propose a protective function. The relationship of its writing with the Iberian signaries explains its comparative presence in this room; the piece belongs to the Vasconic sphere. The linguistic interpretation and full translation remain open.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented archaeological context; protective function and text interpretation are proposals. The provided recreation does not certify the exact form of each sign.

Catalogue facts

Date: First third of the 1st century BCE
Provenance: Irulegi · Aranguren valley, Navarre
Material: Inscribed bronze lamina
Classification: Vasconic sphere · comparative connection, not strict Iberian piece

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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First third of the 1st century BCE

Hand of Irulegui

Iberians

First third of the 1st century BCE; date of the destroyed dwelling beside whose entrance it appeared.

Current record

Bronze23 dated objects

21 / 23In the centre: Hand of Irulegui

Also connected, without a comparable date (6)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Early metallurgyAncient China · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Four offerersIberians · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue
Iron changes the frontierGojoseon and early Korea · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE
The workshop inside the ditchYayoi Japan · 4th century BCE–3rd century CE, peak in Middle and Late Yayoi
Weapons under the LakeCeltic worlds · Mainly 3rd–1st centuries BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Inscriptions

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes

Writing

Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Ivory tablets · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Jemdet Nasr · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Plimpton 322 · Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Love song to Shu-Sin · Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI · Sumer
Si.427 tablet · Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Sumerian Flood of Nippur · Towards 1650 BCE · Sumer
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Boğazköy Archive · Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Linear B · c. 1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Alaksandu of Wilusa · c. 1300 BCE · Hittites
Treaty with Egypt · c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II · Hittites
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Flood Tablet · 7th century BCE · Sumer
Babylonian map of the world · Towards 700–500 BCE · Sumer
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Rations for women and children · Towards 509–493 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Derveni Papyrus · copy conserved towards 340–320 BCE; comments on a previous text. · Thracians
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians — You are viewing
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Venus in the codex · Preserved manuscript: Postclassic, probably 13th–14th centuries; earlier knowledge · Maya worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Bamum document · 28 April 1922 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Eleven articles · Adopted April–May 2022; public portal 2025 · Batwa / Twa histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
The cost of transcription · 19th century–current digital edition · San histories
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes
Zalmoxis · testimony of Herodotus, 5th century BCE; no biographical date of the divinity. · Thracians

Languages

Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians — You are viewing

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Ba-ntu · A long linguistic history; an academic term since the 19th century · Bantu-speaking worlds
Before Bantu Worlds · Modern linguistic reconstruction on historical and living languages · Bantu-speaking worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 21, 2026.

Reading signs does not equate to translating a language

The first sequence is usually transcribed as sorioneku and has been related to Basque. That comparison does not provide a secure translation of the whole. The epigraphic publication examines alternative readings and segmentations: it is advisable to conserve the difference between observable traces and linguistic interpretations.

The perforation and the find beside the entrance of a dwelling support the proposal of a suspended hand with fingers pointing downward. Its possible protective function interprets that context; we do not know the words of those who placed it nor a concrete ceremony.

Research · Aiestaran et al. · The Vasconic inscription of Irulegi, Palaeohispanica (2023)Access recorded: September 21, 2026.

Location and territory

APPROXIMATE LOCATION

Irulegi · Aranguren valleyMarker of the settlement surroundings; does not represent the exact find spot.

Sources and references

Consult the Irulegi archaeological project

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Hand of Irulegui

Explore in 3D

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Hand of Irulegui

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Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere

A coin with the memory of a blade

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

Eight voices in one hand

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Fibula from Lancia

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Hand of Irulegui

Thirty-nine buried bells

Torreáguila fountain spout

A closer look

Reading signs does not equate to translating a language

Location and territory

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?